got off to a difficult

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GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Winning the close ones has become a habit for the Phoenix Coyotes. So has winning at home. Antoine Vermette scored the deciding goal in the shootout for the second straight game, and the Coyotes won their fifth in a row, 3-2 over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night. Vermette, who gave the Coyotes a victory at San Jose on Saturday, trickled the puck just past the line in the sixth round of this tiebreaker. Henrik Sedin lost control of the puck on his chance after Vermettes goal, and the Coyotes skated off with their third consecutive shootout win. "It was a game of inches," Phoenix coach Dave Tippett said, "you see that puck just slide over the goal line." Radim Vrbata and Shane Doan scored in regulation for the Coyotes, 7-0-1 at home. Dan Hamhuis and Ryan Kesler had goals for Vancouver. Vrbata had the other shootout goal for Phoenix. Alex Burrows was the only one to score in the tiebreaker for the Canucks. The series of close wins bodes well for the Coyotes, Doan said. "You get on a roll and you have confidence in a tight game," he said. "It makes a huge difference. Its a mental thing. The more confident we get, the better off were going to be." Winning at home also is a good sign if Phoenix is to be a contender. "If you look at all the teams that have a chance to win or be playoff teams, they all have a good home record," Tippett said. "So thats something weve talked about as a group, and we have to continue to push that. If we can establish a real good home feel and make this a hard place for teams to come and play, I think that carries over to your road record, too." Vancouver, which had won five of six, took the lead with two goals in the first 4:15 of the second period. Only 25 seconds in, Hamhuis scored with a wrist shot just after a faceoff in the Coyotes zone. The puck sailed to the left of goalie Mike Smith and into the net. The go-ahead goal came on a power play with 15:45 left in the period, a sharp slap shot from a few feet inside the blue line by Kesler for his ninth goal of the season. Phoenix tied it 2-2 with 2:21 left in the period when Doan slammed a one-timer past goalie Robert Luongo on a pass from Keith Yandle. "Thats just a great play by Keith Yandle," Doan said. "Not too many (defencemen) in our league would make that play. Most would just step into that and shoot that. Were fortunate weve got some guys back there that drive our whole offence." Vancouver coach John Tortorella blamed himself for Doans goal. "I tried to stretch my bench, and I shouldnt have," he said. "You can put that on me. I shouldnt have had my fourth line out there." The Coyotes were called for too many men on the ice during a line change in the final minute of the second period, but killed the penalty that stretched into the first minute of the third. The Coyotes took a 1-0 lead just 1:15 into the game when Vrbata tipped in a goal after a deflection of Martin Hanzals shot. Phoenix had two quick chances for more with a pair of early power plays, the first when Sedin drew a penalty for hooking, the second on a slashing call against Kesler. But the Canucks, among the best in the NHL in penalty-killing this season, shut down both opportunities. The Coyotes had a couple of good opportunities during the first power play and none on the second. Smith, who had 48 saves at San Jose, made 31 against Vancouver. Luongo stopped 30 shots. NOTES: Phoenix defenceman Derek Morris left in the first period with a lower body injury. ... All six of Vrbadas goals have come at home. ... Phoenixs Zbynek Michalek played in his 600th NHL game. ... The Coyotes only loss at home was on Oct. 15 in overtime against Ottawa. ... Vancouver opened a four-game trip with stops ahead in San Jose, Los Angeles and Anaheim. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . This week, topics cover the Blue Jays rotation, the futures John Gibbons and Alex Anthopoulos, protecting pitchers and a bonus question on his predictions for the MLB playoffs. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! .m. ET, CBSOPENING LINE — Falcons by 3 1/2RECORD VS. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку!. Globo TV and other news outlets said early Monday that Scolari will not remain as coach after the national teams failure to win the World Cup at home. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! .com) - Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll knows about life in the NFL from other stints around the league. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . "Im very pleased to be able to add a quarterback with Adrians experience and skill set," Calgary head coach and general manager John Hufnagel said in a statement. WASHINGTON -- For nearly four years, Washington Capitals fans have watched video clips of Evgeny Kuznetsov playing in Russia and imagined what he could do in the NHL. On Friday night, Kuznetsov began compiling the North American version of his greatest hits -- posting three assists for his first NHL points in the Capitals 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks. Kuznetsov assisted during a power play as countryman Alex Ovechkin finished with a slap shot for his NHL-leading 45th goal. Less than five minutes later, Kuznetsov faked a slap shot from the wing and fed the puck to Tom Wilson for his third goal. In the third period, Kuznetsov started a sequence that led to Mike Green putting the Capitals ahead for good with 9:41 left. Green scored with a slap shot off a feed from Nicklas Backstrom from behind the net. "(Kuznetsov) did a great job battling down the corner and keeping control of the puck," said Green, who scored his ninth goal. "He made a great play to Nicky, and I noticed when Nicky was wheeling the net that he saw me before he even looked up." It was the third NHL game for Kuznetsov, the Capitals first-round pick in the 2010 draft. He signed with Washington last week after five years in Russias Kontinental Hockey League. "You get your first point on the power play, which is kind of an easy point, but it still counts," Washington coach Adam Oates said. "You get your juices going. Great play on the second goal, and then protecting the puck on a cycle (on the third goal), which is kind of something you dont necessarily expect." Kuznetsov played on Washingtons fourth line with fellow rookie Wilson and Jay Beagle, who contributed an assist. "He is such a creative player and a lot of fun to play with," Wilson said. "The first couple of games he wasnt sure, and hes really finding his groove. Hopefully we can have some chemistry for years to come." Kuznetsovs performance helpedd the Capitals forget the 12th time this season theyve blown a two-goal advantage.dddddddddddd Washington led 3-1 early in the third period before Shawn Matthias and Nicklas Jensen scored for Vancouver to tie it. The goal by Jensen, a rookie playing in his sixth game, was the first of his NHL career. "I just felt we were just going to keep on coming," Vancouver coach John Tortorella said. "Theyve given up some leads here. We got that third one, I thought we were just going to take off. We had some chances." Vancouver outshot Washington 41-21, but the Capitals killed all seven Canucks power plays. Jaroslav Halak made 38 saves in his fourth start with the Capitals. "He had a fantastic night," Oates said. "We left him hanging." Jordan Schroeder scored Vancouvers first goal, and Chris Higgins and Christopher Tanev both had two assists. Eddie Lack stopped 17 shots as Vancouver fell to 3-12-1 in its last 16 games. "Its frustrating. I thought we played really well all game," Matthias said. "To tie it up there and let that happen, its upsetting." The night got off to a difficult start for the Canucks, whose bus broke down. Players then took cabs to the arena. Joel Ward opened the scoring for Washington, but the second period belonged to Kuznetsov. "Hes sort of got that young mentality where you know youre not afraid to make a play and do these things that youre capable of," Green said. "Hes going to be a great player." NOTES: The Canucks learned on Friday they will be without C Ryan Kesler for two weeks. Kesler, who leads the team with 22 goals, injured his knee in a 3-2 shootout victory on Wednesday over Winnipeg. ... The International Olympic Committee ruled that Backstrom wasnt at fault for his positive drug test before the gold-medal game at the Olympics, in which he didnt play, and he will receive the silver medal he earned with Sweden. ' ' '