Phoenix Coyotes

They picked a difficult week to do it, but the Coyotes have stopped the bleeding.

In danger of flirting with the .500 mark, the Coyotes have collected five out of a possible six points over the last four days. They won in Minnesota for the first time in more than four years, squeezed a point out of the desperate Blues in St. Louis the next night and then came home -- in reality just another stop on a five-game road trip -- and beat a tough Philadelphia Flyers team 3-1 with a road mentality.

Suddenly, the Coyotes are back in a playoff spot, back to four games over .500 and are getting some of their foot soldiers back. Matthew Lombardi celebrated his return to the lineup from a lower-body injury with a goal and an assist, and Ed Jovanovski could be ready to return this week to give a taxed defense corps a breather.

The key to the turnaround can be traced to the special teams. First, Phoenix has cut down on the penalties it takes and especially the mental penalties (delay of game, too many men on the ice, etc.) and leveled the ice. And while the penalty kill is playing at a high level and stopped all five Philadelphia power plays on Saturday, the Coyotes are capitalizing and scored twice in their five chances, with Lombardi scoring in the second period and Keith Yandle netting the game-winner in the third.

Phoenix has killed 11 straight penalties over the last three games -- two wins and an overtime loss.

Next up is the Coyotes' first trip to Canada this season for games against Edmonton (Monday) and Calgary (Wednesday), two teams that can match the Coyotes' speed on the ice and will put pressure on the defense not to take liberties. Another good week and the Coyotes will have a chance to really make some hay as the schedule turns more favorable.

COYOTES 3, FLYERS 1: Matthew Lombardi returned to the Phoenix lineup with a goal and an assist, and the Coyotes scored twice on their five power-play chances while holding Philadelphia scoreless on its five opportunities. Ilya Bryzgalov made 23 saves and continued his incredible net play as the Coyotes picked up their fourth and fifth points in the last four days in three different cities. Scott Hartnell had the only goal for the Flyers.

• Captain Shane Doan snapped a five-game scoring drought with an empty-net goal that clinched the win. He didn't actually score, but he was awarded the goal when Chris Pronger was called for a hooking penalty while Doan was attempting to shoot into the empty net.

  It was the 264th of Doan's career—all of them with this franchise—and he is tied with Thomas Steen for third place on the Winnipeg/Phoenix all-time goal scorers list. Only Dale Hawerchuk and Keith Tkachuk had more goals with the franchise.

• The Flyers and Coyotes have made several trades over the years, so the rare visit by Philadelphia was a homecoming of sorts for several Flyers. Daniel Briere, a former Coyotes first-round draft pick in 1996, was stoned in the first period by Phoenix goalie Ilya Bryzgalov and was quiet after that. Brian Boucher, who set a modern-day NHL record with five straight shutouts for the Coyotes in 2003-04, watched as the Philadelphia backup. And agitator Daniel Carcillo, who was trade for Scottie Upshall last season, had seven hits but stayed out of the penalty box during his 17 shifts on Tuesday.

• The Flyers don't like coming to the Valley. They haven't won in Phoenix since 2003 and have lost five of their last six trips to Arizona. This was a tough back-to-back after losing in San Jose Friday and making the long flight for an early 6 p.m. local start.

• Keith Yandle's game-winning goal came with some controversy. The linesman ruled defenseman Adrian Aucoin settled a bouncing puck at the blue line, but the Flyers thought it had left the zone and screamed for an offside call. Aucoin passed the puck to Lombardi, who set up Yandle for a wrist shot from the top of the left circle to put the Coyotes ahead to stay.

Quote To Note:

"They're a great team. They're at the top of the East over there and they've been playing good and we know they played last night, so we tried to play 'em as hard as we could early and luckily it worked out for us."

—Coyotes defenseman Keith Yandle, who scored the game-winning goal with 9:41 left in the game.

Goaltenders:

Ilya Bryzgalov, Jason LaBarbera.

Defensemen:

James Vandermeer, Keith Yandle, David Schlemko, Adrian Aucoin, Sami Lepisto and Shaun Heshka.

First Line:

Scottie Upshall, Matthew Lombardi, Shane Doan.

Second Line:

Petr Prucha, Martin Hanzal, Radim Vrbata.

Third Line:

Vernon Fiddler, Daniel Winnik, Taylor Pyatt.

Fourth Line:

Peter Mueller, Robert Lang, Peter Bissonnette.

Player Notes:

• C Matthew Lombardi returned to the Phoenix lineup in impressive style. After missing the last three games with an upper-body injury, he gave the Coyotes power play some jump with a goal in the second period and a first assist on Keith Yandle's game-winner.

  "It's always tough sitting out and having an injury and not being able to play, but the guys have been playing well and I just wanted to come in and hopefully help out," said Lombardi, who hadn't scored a goal since Oct. 22. "I think we just had a real good team effort tonight. That's a great team we played against, they work real hard."

• D Keith Yandle has not only filled the void on an injury-riddled Phoenix defense, he's thrived with the added responsibility. He had a goal and three assists in his last five games, averaging more than 25 minutes of ice time a game. With Ed Jovanovski and Zybnek Michalek out, Yandle has stepped up his defensive play while continuing to contribute on offense.

• G Ilya Bryzgalov wasn't tested often, but came up big when he had to in making 23 saves and once again holding the opposition to two goals or less. Only Scott Hartnell's second period goal prevented him from a fourth shutout this season but it wasn't enough to keep the Coyotes from winning. Bryzgalov allowed five goals in three games over four nights, and Phoenix has ridden his play to collect five of six possible points.

• LW Vernon Fiddler continues his impressive play. He was a key component of the Coyotes penalty kill that denied the Flyers on all five power-play chances Saturday, including one on the final five minutes with Phoenix clinging to a one-goal lead. He won nine of 17 face-offs and was a plus-one for the night despite playing against a high-powered Philadelphia line.

Medical Watch:

• D Ed Jovanovski (lower body injury) missed his seventh consecutive game after suffering a lower-body injury on Nov. 5. Jovanovski appears to be the closest of three injured Phoenix defensemen to returning, and there is hope for him to play this coming week

• D Zbynek Michalek (lower body injury) missed his eighth straight game and is not expected to be ready in the near future. He is on the injured reserve list.

• D Kurt Sauer (upper body injury) missed his 22nd straight game. He has not played since opening day Oct. 3, and there is no timetable for his return.

• C Matthew Lombardi returned after missing the last three games with an upper-body injury, and has an immediate impact with a goal and a first-assist on Keith Yandle's game-winning goal.