Coyotes Douse Flames

April 2, 1999 / 1:51 AM EST / CBS/AP

Nikolai Khabibulin's eyes must light up when he faces the Calgary Flames.

Khabibulin made 33 saves to lead the Phoenix Coyotes to a 4-1 victory over the Flames and improve his career record against Calgary to 12-1-3.

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"If I knew why, I'd have a better record against a team like Colorado," Khabibulin joked.

Greg Adams and Rick Tocchet scored 33 seconds apart early in the first period and that was enough for Khabibulin, who won his 31st game, fifth best in the NHL.

"We played better tonight than we played the other night in Edmonton," said Khabibulin. "We got a lot of goals there but I don't think we played great defense."

Adams, Tocchet, Keith Tkachuk and Jeremy Roenick each finished with a goal and an assist for Phoenix. Shane Doan added two assists and now has a goal and four assists over the past two games while playing alongside Tkachuk and Roenick.

Dave Roche scored the lone goal for the injury-plagued Flames, who played without three defensemen -- leading scorer Phil Housley (hip), captain Todd Simpson (concussion) and veteran Steve Smith (ankle).

"We forced them to play out of their element a little bit because we took the early lead," Phoenix coach Jim Schoenfeld said. "But in all fairness to the Flames, in games like this I'm sure they missed a guy like Phil Housley, a great player having a geat year who can really get the offense turned around in a hurry."

The Flames remain in sole possession of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, one point up on the Edmonton Oilers. Calgary and Edmonton play each other three times over the final six games of the season.

"They're a good hockey club that make you pay when you make mistakes," Flames coach Brian Sutter said of the Coyotes. "We didn't make many but when we made them, they made us pay."

After a month-long stretch in which they lost 11 of 13, the Coyotes have now rebounded to go 7-2-2 in their past 11 and appear in fine form for the postseason.

"These are important wins for us," said Schoenfeld. "I know everybody's getting anxious for the playoffs to start but we've got to play these games and we have to play our best hockey."

Robert Reichel picked up an assist against his former team and now has 10 points (six goals, four assists) in seven games since being acquired from the New York Islanders.