Daniel Winnik, Madame Cleo and more Bryzgalov

Head Coach Dave Tippett put it best during his post-game interview last night.

“That’s the way we want to play,” said Tippett.

Bryzgalov, once again, was dominant. He stopped all 32 shots he faced to earn his third shutout of the season. He improved to 7-3-0 with a GAA of 1.77 and a save percentage of .929. Brizzy obviously doesn’t like being pulled during a game (see the last Rangers-Coyotes game)

Daniel Winnik scored his second goal of the season and Taylor Pyatt scored the other goal, his first of the year. Vernon Fiddler assisted on both of the goals. For those who didn’t notice, Winnik, Pyatt and Fiddler were all on the same line last night. So, maybe good things do come in threes.

Speaking of Winnik, I TOLD YOU SO! HEHH-HAAA! In my last blog post, I mentioned that I would be blogging about him after the game against the Blues was over. After his goal in the second period, I felt like a little kid on Christmas! Or like Madame Cleo.

I did feel slightly bad for David Perron last night. He was robbed numerous times by Bryzgalov and his Dhalsim-like legs.

If anyone was wondering why a healthy Scottie Upshall saw no ice time last night, it was because Tippett had benched him for his poor, penalty-filled performance against Columbus earlier in the week. I would condemn Tippett for this strategy but I can’t possibly argue against a guy who’s gotten the team off to its best start since “The Year 2000”.

Super underdog Lauri Korpikoski almost had his first goal during regulation .But, as the puck was about to sail into the empty net Paul Kariya blocked it with the shaft of his stick at the very last second. If you ask me, that was very rude.

Phoenix will host the Anaheim Mighty Ducks Saturday. Currently, the ‘Yotes are 3rd in the Pacific division and have climbed to 5th in the Western conference. If you’re wondering where the Three Stars of Fantasy section is (and I know you are), here you go:

THREE STARS OF FANTASY HOCKEY:

3. Daniel Winnik – (see above)

2. Vernon Fiddler – (see above)

1. Ilya Bryzgalov – (see above)

Lastly, Happy Halloween! Nothing says Halloween like a good ol’fashioned pumpkin dance!

Tags: Daniel Winnik, Dave Tippett, Ilya Bryzgalov, Lauri Korpikoski, Scottie Upshall, Vernon Fiddler