NHL Game Summary - Anaheim At Phoenix
POSTED: 9:09 pm MST April 11,
2009
Glendale, AZ -- (Sports Network) - Viktor Tikhonov scored the game-winner in the fourth round of the shootout as Phoenix ended its regular season with a disputed 5-4 win over Anaheim. After Teemu Selanne lifted his chance over the net to start the round, Tikhonov made several stick fakes before slipping the puck off Jean-Sebastien Giguere's pad and the right post. The Ducks coaching staff asked for a review because it appeared that Tikhonov illegally double-touched the puck to push it over the goal line. After a lengthy review proved inconclusive, Phoenix was finally able to walk away victorious. Steve Reinprecht tallied twice with two helpers for the Coyotes (36-39-7), who finished the season with four wins in their last six games and landed in a tie with the Kings at the bottom of the Pacific Division. Todd Fedoruk and Enver Lisin also scored while Ilya Bryzgalov allowed four goals on 35 shots for the win. "It wasn't the way we anticipated our year," said Coyotes head coach Wayne Gretzky. "Going into the All-Star break I thought our season was outstanding and thought that we could make a playoff run. It didn't work out that way." Selanne had a goal and assist for the Ducks (42-33-7), who could have leapt over Columbus, which lost earlier Saturday, for the sixth spot in the West with a victory. However, with 91 points, Anaheim moved alone into seventh, one point ahead of idle St. Louis. The Blues finish their regular season on Sunday. Jonas Hiller started the contest and surrendered four goals on 24 shots through two periods. Giguere finished the game by stopping all nine shots he faced. Reinprecht picked up a power-play goal for Phoenix 3:48 into the contest, and Erik Christensen netted a power-play marker for Anaheim 2:39 into the second period. Fedoruk put the Coyotes back on top at the seven-minute mark, then Reinprecht connected on another man-advantage at 12:21. Corey Perry brought the Ducks back within a goal inside the final two minutes with Anaheim on the power play, but Lisin struck for a 4-2 Phoenix edge with six seconds to go. Anaheim tallied twice in a 45-second span early in the third to tie the game as Bobby Ryan hit the net at 5:02 and Selanne followed at 5:47. Bryzgalov kept the game alive, denying Andrew Ebbett on a breakaway with less than a minute to play in overtime. "We made the mistakes, with and without the puck," said Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle. "You shouldn't be giving up four goals in playoff-type games. We worked hard, battled back and we'll stick with the preparation for the next couple of days."Game Notes:The Ducks won the season series, 4-1-1...It was a season-high for points in a game by Reinprecht, who last had four points in a contest on January 2, 2008 at Colorado.
Copyright 2009 Courtesy of The Sports Network.






