Coyotes Burn Devils
Jeremy Roenick did all he could to make goalie Sean Burke a winner in his Phoenix debut.
Roenick scored three goals and Burke, acquired from Florida on Nov. 19, stopped 35 shots as the Coyotes beat the New Jersey Devils 4-2 on Thursday night.
"Credit Sean Burke in goal," said Roenick. "He made some great individual efforts. We really wanted to get a win for him in his first game."
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"It's a mental thing," said Burke. "If you don't get a win in the first game you start to press a little bit. It's a relief. I was really nervous today, until I got on the ice."
Roenick recorded his first hat trick since joining the Coyotes three seasons ago. "Finally one here," he said.
Teppo Numminen also scored for the Coyotes. Scott Niedermayer and Petr Sykora scored for the Devils, who played without Bobby Holik, their top goal scorer.
Holik was suspended for three games Thursday for cutting Anaheim's Steve Rucchin in the face with his stick Wednesday night in Anaheim.
New Jersey failed to score on any of its four power plays against the Coyotes, the league's top penalty killers.
"It was frustrating for the team," said New Jersey goalie Chris Terreri, who made 21 saves. "We just never got anything going. And personally, it was frustrating. I just wasn't sharp."
Phoenix entered the game converting on just 13.6 percent of its power-play opportunities, but Roenick gt the game's first goal 14:28 into the first period on the power play.
Roenick picked up a loose puck on top of the left circle and rifled a shot into the left corner of the net for the unassisted score.
Numminen also scored on a Coyotes' power play. Roenick flipped a pass from the left corner to Numminen at the point. Numminen got a hard wrist shot past a screened Devils' goalie Chris Terreri 9:24 into the second period.
New Jersey answered 1:38 later as Burke tried to cover a shot by Randy McKay but the puck squirted free in the crease and Niedermayer poked it in for his first goal of the season.
Roenick got his second goal 1:28 into the third period on a rebound shot to make it 3-1. Roenick's third goal came with 13:04 remaining on a shot from above the right circle before Sykora scored with 59 seconds left.
The Coyotes are missing their top goaltender of the past three seasons, Nikolai Khabibulin, because of a contract dispute.
Phoenix sent goalie Mikhail Shtalenkov and a fourth-round draft pick in 2000 to Florida for Burke and a fifth-round 2000 draft pick. Burke, a 12-year NHL veteran, was 2-5 with Florida this season. He made his Coyotes' debut against the team that drafted him in 1985.
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