Stanson Town » back-to-back of the season and third game in four nights a

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Phoenix Coyotes have won three in a row for the first time in 4 1/2 months, and theyve done it just in time for the stretch run to the playoffs. Radim Vrbata and Antoine Vermette scored first-period goals and the Phoenix Coyotes held on for a 2-1 win over the Florida Panthers on Thursday night. Coyotes goalie Mike Smith had a shutout until Chris Gomez scored with 4:08 to play. Smith had 22 saves. The game was no thing of beauty. "They all cant all be masterpieces," Phoenix coach Dave Tippett said. "We got up two goals and we won. Well leave it at that." The victory, coupled with Dallas loss to Philadelphia, put the Coyotes four points ahead of the Stars for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. Phoenix has won five of six and seven of nine. "Maybe desperation," Vrbata said when asked what was driving the recent success. "We know where we are in the standings and that we need every point we can get. We lost too many games before, games we should have won. " Smiths play has been central to the recent wins and he was strong again Thursday. "Before they got that goal, he was outstanding," Tippett said, "and then he got some after that." There werent many shots, Tippett said, but several were difficult saves. Robert Luongo had 20 saves for the Panthers. The Coyotes scored their first goal on a power play after Floridas Jimmy Hayes was sent to the penalty box for holding. Oliver Ekman-Larssons shot from directly in front of the net glanced off Martin Hanzals skate and was knocked into the net by Vrbata for his 20th goal of the season. Phoenix killed two penalties the rest of the period, then made it 2-0 when Vermette hit the puck into a virtually empty net off a deflected shot by Mike Stone. Stones shot bounced off Luongos midsection and right to Vermette. Luongo complained that the goal should have been disallowed because Mikkel Boedker had knocked the goalie to the ice, creating an opening for the goal, but the score stood and it was 2-0 after two. "I think they missed it," Florida coach Peter Horachek said. ".. It should have been an interference call. A lot of those things are going to happen and youre going to have to deal with them, everybody else does, but when you look back at it, it makes it 1-1." Luongo said hed have to look at the tape, but added "its tough to do my job when I end up in the corner." Tippett said Boedker was shoved in to the goalie. "Theyre guy pushed," Tippett said. "I thought it was the right call. Boedker wouldnt have been in there if he hadnt got pushed." "If he hadnt been shoved, he wouldnt have been in there," Tippett said. It was Vermettes team-leading 22nd goal. Hanzal and Ekman-Larsson got assists on Vrbatas goal, Stone and Boedker on the second. Gomezs goal, his first in 36 games, came on a wrist shot that fluttered past Smith. The three-game winning streak is Phoenixs longest since it won five in a row from Oct. 26 to Nov. 5. NOTES: Florida ranks last in the NHL in power-play goals and last in penalty kills. ... Entering the night, Smith had a 1.92 goals-against average and .936 save percentage in his previous 14 games. ... Phoenix swept the season series 2-0, winning at Florida 3-1 on March 11. ... Phoenix is home against Boston Saturday night. ... The Panthers were on the second stop of a four-game road trip. They are at Los Angeles on Saturday. Winnipeg Jets Jerseys . -- Another baseball tradition is about to largely disappear: a manager, with a crazed look in his eyes, charging the field and getting into a face-to-face shouting match with an umpire. Dale Hawerchuk Jersey . The struggling New Orleans Pelicans were simply overmatched. Crawford hit seven 3s on his way to 24 points, and the Clippers beat the Pelicans 123-110 on Monday night. "We understand what we do well. If we all do what we do well, well make our team stronger," Crawford said. http://www.jetsauthentic.com/authentic-teppo-numminen-jets-jersey/ .com) - Even on the day his New Hampshire football team became the nations top-ranked team two weeks ago, coach Sean McDonnell conceded something about the team they replaced at No. Bobby Hull Jersey . Cleveland has won the first two of this set and has won six straight games since losing back-to-back tilts to open the year. Seattle, on the other hand, has now lost six in a row following consecutive wins to kick off its campaign. Teemu Selanne Jersey . These days, just about anyone can get a taste of the friendship that has blossomed between All-Star Kevin Durant and Oklahoma City Thunder teammate James Harden, most famous in the past two weeks or so for the elbow to the head he took from the Los Angeles Lakers Metta World Peace.DALLAS -- DeMar DeRozan showed lots of love for former teammate and mentor Jose Calderon before Toronto played in Dallas. Then the pupil one-upped his old teacher in the game. DeRozan scored 15 points, including the go-ahead basket on a wild shot while getting fouled in overtime Friday night, and the Raptors overcame a season high in points from Calderon to beat the Mavericks 109-108. Toronto trailed 108-107 after a 3-pointer by Calderon when DeRozans pump-fake got Brandan Wright and Shawn Marion in the air. DeRozan threw up a shot as he was bumped and it went in for the final points with 1:11 remaining. Kyle Lowry led six players in double figures with 20 points for the Raptors, who lost to Charlotte in overtime two nights earlier and were 0-3 in OT this season. "We understand what not to do from the previous one," said DeRozan, who led the Raptors with nine assists. Calderon led Dallas with 23 points, including 11 to go along with three of his nine assists in the fourth quarter, and was 7 of 10 from long range. "Thats just Jose, man," DeRozan said. "Jose seems like every time the ball leaves his hand the balls going in." But not on the possession after DeRozans go-ahead basket. Down by a point, the Mavericks missed three times in one trip in the final minute when Nowitzki misfired from 3-point range and Calderon was off target after the rebound bounced back to him beyond the arc. With a chance to reset, the Mavericks got the ball to Nowitzki again, but he missed a fadeaway jumper from the baseline. Nowitzki scored 22, but missed his last six shots to finish 10 of 22 from the field. "You know its going to be one shot, one stop, and I think we did the right things," said Calderon, who spent most of his first eight years in Toronto before a midseason trade to Detroit last January. "But we couldnt make the last shot." DeRozan missed the free throw after his circus shot, but the Mavericks were off target on their last four, including a runner in the final seconds by Monta Ellis, who had 21 points and a season-high 11 assists. Toronto had its biggest lead at 89-81 when Calderon scored 11 straight Dallas points to get the Mavericks to 993-92.dddddddddddd Calderon then drove and zipped a pass to Nowitzki for a 3-pointer to put Dallas in front 95-93. Calderon also assisted on Marions go-ahead basket with 20.9 seconds left, but DeRozan got Toronto even at 101-all with a tough jumper over Marion just 4 seconds later. Nowitzki missed a turnaround jumper with Amir Johnson defending just before the buzzer to end regulation, which included a 14-1 run by Dallas for a 41-22 lead followed by a 27-6 Toronto burst that put the Raptors in front 49-47 in the final minute of the first half. "Its a PG rated show and I cant really say it," Toronto coach Dwane Casey of his first-half message to his team in the building where he was an assistant to Dallas coach Rick Carlisle for three seasons. "Guys responded. They hit us with a haymaker, and Im proud at the way our guys fought back." Torontos Jonas Valanciunas had 18 points and 13 rebounds, including a sequence where he rebounded his own miss twice and eventually scored for a 93-89 lead. Johnson and Terrence Ross scored 15 apiece for the Raptors, who started the fourth quarter on an 11-0 run. Greivis Vasquez had eight of his 14 points during the spurt, including a pair of 3-pointers on assists from DeRozan, who also hit a shot from long range. Ellis inbounded to Nowitzki with 2.9 seconds left in the third quarter, sped around Nowitzki as he got the ball back and hit a high-arching finger roll layup just before the buzzer to put the Mavericks up 81-78. The Mavericks had to fly to Phoenix after the game for their eighth back-to-back of the season and third game in four nights after they had a three-day break between a pair of home games. "It went wrong in the first half," Carlisle said. "They chewed into the lead very quickly. Its hard to build a 19-point lead in this league." Marion scored 14 points and matched Nowitzki with a team-high nine rebounds. NOTES: Mavericks G Devin Harris is now targeting a January return after a setback in his recovery from off-season toe surgery on his left foot. He has stopped basketball activities because of swelling. ... Nowitzki needs 35 points to pass Alex English for 13th on the NBAs scoring list. 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