Sport-scan daily brief

Where: SAP Center at San Jose.

TV/radio: FSAZ/KTAR-AM 620.

Sharks update: The Sharks started their season by beating the Vancouver Canucks 4-1 Thursday. All four goals came five-on-five with the Sharks unable to convert on eight power-play chances. The Sharks had four different goal scorers. Rookie Tomas Hertl wasn’t one of them, but he had a solid NHL debut with an assist, two shots and two hits. Also, keep an eye on captain Joe Thornton. He has 67 points in 62 career games against the Coyotes. Last season, the Sharks won the season series 3-2.

Arizona Republic LOADED: 10.05.2013

719614 Phoenix Coyotes

Plenty of positives for Coyotes in Game 1

Posted on October 4, 2013 9:08 am by Sarah McLellan

One down, 81 to go.

Actually, the Coyotes hope they have more than 81 games remaining. If they continue to play like the way they did in Thursday’s opener against the New York Rangers, they probably will.

“We were just solid from the drop of the puck on through the game,” goalie Mike Smith said. “I thought we did a lot of good things really well. Obviously there are lots of things we can improve on, but I think that’s just part of the game.

“You take the good things out of it and learn from those, and you take the stuff you want to improve on and work on that. But I think for the start of the season, the new ownership here and the crowd we had, it was a good way to start.”

These were some of the positives from Game 1:

-Smith was solid and looked like the player he was in 2011-2012. That’s what the Coyotes expected to see when they handed Smith a six-year, $34 million extension this summer. He had 23 saves, a few of which could land on a highlight reel.

He made a sprawling arm save in the first on the penalty kill and then not long after that, he came up with a sliding glove save on Brad Richards.

1002130448EL Coyotes1004“I actually didn’t feel unbelievable tonight,” Smith said. “I don’t know if it was just because I hadn’t played in a week, but I felt like I was seeing the puck well. I didn’t feel like I was moving the best I can. But like we talked about before in the past, when you’re not feeling your best those are the games that test you the most because you have to be really sharp mentally and don’t let it affect you. I thought I did that pretty well tonight.”

-The power play went 1-for-3.

“Pretty good puck movement,” coach Dave Tippett said. “We missed a few really good opportunities on it that could have capitalized on, but there are some positive signs on it.”

The most noticeable improvement was the momentum the power plays garnered. The first two goals both came after strong efforts with the man-advantage. That’s something center Mike Ribeiro, who was brought in to revitalize the power play, said during training camp will be key for the unit. It doesn’t always have to score, but it can’t lose momentum. It has to keep it. The Coyotes were able to do that against the Rangers.

“We kept the momentum from the power play, and I don’t think it was a power play goal that second one but we kept the momentum and scored the power play goal early in the third,” winger Radim Vrbata said. “That always helps. Last coupe years, we were always talking about that one extra goal on the power play that would help and that did tonight.”

-Obviously, Vrbata recording a natural hat trick was a plus for the Coyotes. It was the fifth hat trick of his career and second in consecutive regular season games. He had one in the 2013 season finale against the Anaheim Ducks.

According to Coyotes stats guru Greg Dillard, Vrbata is the second Coyotes player to accomplish that feat of back-to-back hat tricks. Jeremy Roenick did it Nov. 25-26, 1999.

Vrbata is the first Coyotes player to score a hat trick in a season opener. Last year’s opening game against the Dallas Stars, Vrbata had two goals.

He’s also the first NHL player to have a hat trick in a season finale and then in the season opener for same team since Luc Robitaille did it in 1988.

“We’d be alright if he only got one next game instead of three,” Tippett said. “We can work with that.”

Overall, Tippett was impressed with the entire Vrbata line.

“I thought (Martin) Hanzal and Vrbata and (Lauri Korpikoski) were really good tonight,” he said. “They played a lot against the Rangers top line there. They were really solid. Korpi gives you that really sold two-way game. He’s not a creative player like (Ray) Whitney was, but he’s a really serviceable player in the game playing in the hard areas and when you’re matching up lines, that’s not bad to have. Obviously the line did some some good things tonight, and we’ll see where it goes.”

-Winger Lucas Lessio played 9:22 in his NHL debut. He had a shot, a hit and a roughing penalty. But he also drew two penalties.

“You could tell he was a little nervous early, but he’s relentless on loose pucks,” Tippett said. “He drew two penalties. There is no quit. There’s a puck battle and he’s in it and he’s in it the whole way, and he’s such a great kid. He’s passionate about playing, and I thought as the game went on he got better and better. He’s going to be a really good NHL player.”

Arizona Republic LOADED: 10.05.2013

719615 Phoenix Coyotes

Coyotes season preview: No more excuses

CRAIG MORGAN

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- George Gosbee, Craig Stewart and Anthony LeBlanc attended their first NHL Board of Governor's meeting on Sept. 23 in New York.

"The simple fact of being there was pretty exhilarating," said LeBlanc, the Coyotes' new president and CEO. "It's moments like that where you sit back and say, 'wow, we actually did get this thing done and buy this team.'"

If you came along for that lengthy and bumpy ride, you know it wasn't easy, but the task ahead may be even more daunting. The oft-repeated theme throughout training camp and the preseason is that the Coyotes are out of excuses.

They have ownership, general manager Don Maloney carries more than hopes and prayers in his wallet, coach Dave Tippett, goalie Mike Smith and captain Shane Doan stayed put and the play-making center this franchise has coveted for so long finally arrived when Mike Ribeiro signed a four-year, $22 million deal three days after the Glendale City Council approved a 15-year, $225 million arena lease agreement.

The Coyotes may even have one more trick up their sleeves if they can acquire a left wing for the second line. This doesn't mean the Coyotes are suddenly a free-spending cap team, but the hockey the hard way mentality is simply not reality any more.

"There’s a lot of teams that can say they have the underdog mentality because people base that on payroll," Tippett said "But for us, it’s about doing everything right now, from the style of play, to the players we bring and put in different roles, to how we develop players, to how our minor league system plays, to how we use our resources to the maximize our potential.

"You have to do a good job in each of those areas if you’re going to be a good organization and a lot of those things are in place now so the pressure’s on us to do well on the ice and get results."

The Coyotes open the season Thursday at Jobing.com Arena against the New York Rangers as members of the new and improved Pacific Division. That realignment will also present challenges but at long last, it's finally time to talk about hockey so we're diving into several aspects of the on-ice product.

Of course, it all starts with goaltender Mike Smith, he of the freshly minted six-year, $34 million contract. But one player does not a successful season make.

>> Here are our five keys to a prosperous 2013-14.

Roster reset

WHO'S NEW

C Mike Ribeiro: Free agency (Washington)

G Thomas Greiss: Free agency (San Jose)

RW Chris Brown: Second round (36th overall), 2009 draft

LW Lucas Lessio: Second round (56th overall) 2011 draft

D David Rundblad: From Ottawa (along with a second round pick) for Kyle Turris

PROJECTED FORWARD LINES*

1. LW Mikkel Boedker, C Mike Ribeiro, RW Shane Doan

2. LW Lauri Korpikoski, C Martin Hanzal, RW Radim Vrbata

3. LW Lucas Lessio, C Antoine Vermette, RW David Moss

4. LW Rob Klinkhammer, C Kyle Chipchura, RW Chris Brown

* - Paul Bissonnette is suspended for the first three games

PROJECTED DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS*

1. Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Zbynek Michalek

2. Keith Yandle and Derek Morris

3. David Rundblad and David Schlemko

4. Michael Stone and Chris Summers

* - Rostislav Klesla will begin the season on injured reserve

GOALTENDING TANDEM

Mike Smith and Thomas Greiss

Odds and ends

Frequent flyers: The Coyotes will travel the second most miles in the NHL this season (52,633), second only to San Jose's 57,612 miles, which is nearly double the miles the Coyotes' opening night opponent, the New York Rangers (29,839) will travel.

Hybrid icing is here: Hybrid icing was tested in exhibition games and approved on Monday by the NHLPA this week. The new rule eliminates potentially dangerous races to the end boards when icing seems imminent. The linesman must judge whether the offensive player or defensive player will win a race to an imaginary line across the faceoff dots and touch the puck first. If the linesman judges that the defensive player will reach the puck first, he'll blow his whistle, signaling icing. If he judges that the offensive player will reach the puck first, play will continue. If the play is too close to judge when the first player has reached the faceoff dots, icing will be called. Here is a link to other rules changes for the 2013-2014 season: http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=684940

New rivalries: The Dallas Stars are gone, the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames are in as the realigned Pacific division swells to seven teams. The additions will be interesting from a style perspective since Vancouver and Edmonton play more of a skating game, while Phoenix, Los Angles and San Jose rely on structure. From a revenue standpoint, the changes should pay dividends. The Stars never drew well; the Canadian teams do because there are lots of Canadian snowbirds in the Valley.

New playoff format: With realignment comes a new playoff format. The top three teams in each division will qualify for the postseason. The final two playoff spots will be filled by wild-card teams with the next best records. It's a nice balance of ensuring the importance of finishing well in your division and making sure deserving teams don't get cheated. When the postseason begins, the division winner with the most points in the conference will be matched against the wild-card team with the fewest points; the division winner with the second-most points in the conference will play the wild-card team with the second-fewest points. The teams finishing second and third in each division will play intra-divisional series in the first round of the playoffs. Teams will not be re-seeded after the first round.

Everybody plays everybody again: The regular season was adjusted to account for the new conference alignments. Each team plays either four or five games against the other teams in its division (29 games in the Western Conference, 30 games in the Eastern Conference) as well as playing all non-divisional teams in its own conference three times (21 games in the West, 24 games in the East). The remaining games are inter-conference play (32 in the west, 28 in the east), allowing every team in the league to play every other team twice. That means the Coyotes are guaranteed visits from all those popular teams from the East like the Rangers, Bruins and Penguins.

Six outdoor games: Watered down or more of a good thing? We think the latter as the NHL gets set to stage six outdoor games this season, building on the Winter Classic's mass appeal. The New Year's Day Winter Classic returns with the Toronto Maple Leafs facing the Detroit Red Wings at the Big House, Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. In addition, the league announced its inaugural Stadium Series, with four games in baseball or football fields in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. The Los Angeles Kings will host the Anaheim Ducks at Dodger Stadium on January 25, the New Jersey Devils will play the New York Rangers at Yankee Stadium on Jan. 26, the New York Islanders will face the Rangers at Yankee Stadium on Jan. 29, and the Chicago Blackhawks will host the Pittsburgh Penguins at Soldier Field on March 1, The Heritage Classic also returns, with the Ottawa Senators visiting the Vancouver Canucks at B.C. Place on March 1. Maybe some day, Phoenix fans.

To Russia, with gloves: There will be no All-Star Game in 2014 due to the NHL's participation in the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, where Team Canada hopes to successfully defend its 2010 gold medal. That is always good theater, but an equally big storyline will be how much the Olympics impact the NHL players who participate. The 2010 Winter Olympics were in Vancouver, which is in the Pacific time zone. Sochi is eight hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time; 11 hours ahead of Pacific. Talk about jet lag.

foxsportsarizona.com LOADED: 10.05.2013

719616 Phoenix Coyotes

Mike Smith has a new recipe for success

CRAIG MORGAN

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- There have been many theories floated for why Coyotes goalie Mike Smith didn't replicate his breakout 2011-12 season. Here are the most common ones.

The lockout: "I played shinny hockey for four months, and then I jumped into a regular season in January with less than a week of training camp. Camp is to work out the kinks so when the season starts you can be peaking. Without that, a lot of bad habits crept into my game, and I got off to a slow start," Smith said.

Injuries: Smith battled a groin injury during the season. Missing time, both in games and in practice, set him back and prevented him from ever establishing continuity and consistency in his game.

The condensed schedule: Smith talked early in the season and again before this season about how draining the schedule was mentally, and how it limited practice time to work out bad habits. The Western Conference's top five seeds (Chicago, Anaheim, Vancouver, St. Louis, Los Angeles) all used their No. 2 goalies liberally to keep their No. 1 fresh and give them practice time for coaching. Phoenix did not, partly because the staff lost faith in backup Jason LaBarbera. The decision might have cost the Coyotes a fresh and healthy Smith.

Contract limbo: Smith insists it wasn't a distraction knowing he was in the final year of his deal; GM Don Maloney and coach Dave Tippett aren't sure.

The team in front of him wasn't as good: The Coyotes lost leading point producer Ray Whitney in free agency, so their margin for error got even slimmer. The team wasn't finishing its chances early in the year and wasn't getting as many later in the year. All of that can impact a goalie's performance and magnify his mistakes.

Confidence: Smith lost it early in the year and wasn't able to regain it. Confidence is key for any athlete; for a goalie it's vital.

It's undeniable that Smith's performance slipped. His save percentage dropped from .930 to .910, and Tippett pointed to that as one of the major factors in the team missing the playoffs.

"It was probably a combination things," goalie coach Sean Burke said. "Last year was a strange season, so when you look at that type of year, I think you throw it out the window."

Burke is paid to help instill confidence in his player, and he's had a ridiculous amount of success since taking over as the Coyotes goalie coach, both with Ilya Bryzgalov and Smith. The man fans call the goalie whisperer is confident his star pupil is ready and motivated as the season begins. Here is a corresponding set of theories why Smith will shine this year.

Security: Smith signed a six-year, $34 million deal in the offseason. "It is a breath of fresh air," he said. "You know you’re going to be in one city for a long time, hopefully for the rest of my career. My family loves it here. It removes all of the outside stuff, so now I can just go and play."

He's healthy: That can change in an instant, but Smith feels mentally and physically sharp as the Coyotes open the regular season. That wasn't the case last season when he was still trying to round into shape.

He's eating quinoa: OK, that's not really the reason, but Smith did make some changes to his diet and his off-ice work in the offseason. "I'm not going to lie," he said. "For the past many years I probably haven't been the guy who had his body in tip-top shape. I think I've really matured in recent years." Smith said much of his off-ice work this summer in Vancouver was focused on injury prevention and core strengthening. As for the bland, slightly bitter quinoa, he is eating that along with several other foods recommended by strength and conditioning coordinator Tommy Powers. And he insists it's not bland. "You're just not cooking it right," he quipped.

The blue line is elite and deep: The Coyotes have two top-tier, puck-moving defensemen in Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Keith Yandle and two solid veterans in Rusty Klesla and Derek Morris. Younger players Michael Stone and David Schlemko have also matured with playing time, while David Rundblad showed flashes of offensive prowess in the preseason. The Coyotes don't really have a banger who can move traffic out from in front of their net, but what they have are guys who can handle the puck and get it out of the defensive zone quickly. Possession is everything in today's NHL. More possession time means less opponent chances for Smith to stop.

Confidence has been restored: When the 2013 season ended, Smith was discombobulated. He hadn't played well, he was entering contract negotiations, his family was facing uncertainty and he was wrestling with a decision to play for Team Canada at the IIHF World Championship. By the time that tournament ended, Smith had re-established himself as an elite goalie with .944 save percentage. Then the dominoes started to fall. The Coyotes re-signed coach Dave Tippett and re-signed Smith, affirming their belief in him (and perhaps acknowledging a weak free-agent market). The team was sold, the roster was upgraded, and Smith was one of five goalies Team Canada invited to its orientation camp in preparation for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Smith isn't searching for his game any more. He's found it, and he can't wait to show it off.

"He's a good player, a good person who fits well in our chemistry, fits well in our group of defensemen," Tippett said. "You need a backbone, and I have trust in him. I know how he can play, and we think he gives us our best chance to be successful."

foxsportsarizona.com LOADED: 10.05.2013

719617 Pittsburgh Penguins

Neal injury means shuffling for Malkin line

By Rob Rossi

Updated 5 hours ago

The real deal for Evgeni Malkin is he could be skating with a lot of different linemates for a while.

James Neal, the regular right winger on a second line centered by Malkin, is week-to-week with an unspecified upper-body injury, Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said Friday.

Neal has not practiced since Sunday. He took only five shifts and played fewer than four minutes in the Penguins' 3-0 season-opening home victory over New Jersey on Thursday.

No opponent — certainly not the Sabres, who visit Consol Energy Center on Saturday night — will feel sorry for such a blow to the Penguins' offense.

Malkin, after all, is one of two former scoring champions (Sidney Crosby) on a roster that also includes wingers Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis — a top-line duo that combined for 133 goals the past three seasons.

Still, Bylsma conceded Friday that his Penguins lack any one player to replace what Neal can bring.

“I don't think a replacement or a guy next to (Malkin) should think about trying to be a James Neal,” Bylsma said. “He scores 40 and does certain things for a reason.”

A big reason — and this is a point Malkin and Neal repeatedly have stressed over the past three years — is an on-ice bond so strong that often one of Bylsma's biggest challenges is finding a left winger for his second line.

Jussi Jokinen had convinced coaches he was the fit for that opening, and the Penguins' lines during practice on Friday suggested he would remain to Malkin's left.

To Malkin's right at practice was Beau Bennett, who as a rookie last season occasionally was the left winger with Malkin and Neal.

Bennett, the Penguins' 2010 first-round pick, has progressed rapidly in the view of coaches, who had viewed him as offensive catalyst on a third line alongside center Brandon Sutter.

Bylsma did not commit to Bennett staying to the right of Malkin's in Neal's absence. He also said the opener against New Jersey likely provided a blueprint for how the Penguins will use Malkin while Neal is out.

After Neal left that game, Malkin skated four shifts as the right winger with Crosby and Kunitz. Malkin also centered a line with Tanner Glass to his left and Craig Adams on the right.

“That will probably continue,” Bylsma said.

Malkin said last week he felt “ready” to reassert himself as one of the NHL's dominant offensive forces. Various injuries limited him to 31 games (out of 48) last season, though he still averaged a point per game with nine goals and 24 assists.

The last time the NHL staged a full season, Malkin ran away with his second scoring title and won the MVP after scoring 50 goals and producing 109 points. That season was his first with Neal as a linemate, and Neal had 40 goals and 81 points.

Neal has said the secret to his success with Malkin is “giving him the puck and getting open because he will find you.”

Malkin said Neal often does not give himself enough credit, citing Neal's knack for finding soft spots in the offensive zone, Neal's deceptive speed and a shot that New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur described as “one of best in the NHL.”

“Neal is more than just a great shooter,” Brodeur said last season. “But, obviously, his shot is something special and when he's with Malkin, that makes (the Penguins) really dangerous.”

Note: The Penguins' opener Thursday, part of which was broadcast opposite the Pirates' playoff game, drew an 8.8 rating for Root Sports, Nielsen Media Research reported. About 275,000 viewers watched the game in Western Pennsylvania.

Tribune Review LOADED: 10.05.2013

719618 Pittsburgh Penguins

New hybrid icing rule pain to Penguins' Glass

Hard-hitting forward dislikes change, pressure it puts on linesmen

October 5, 2013 12:10 am

By Shelly Anderson / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

If anyone was looking for a classic example of a one-on-one race that illustrates the NHL's new hybrid icing rule, they might be tempted to watch footage from the third period of the Penguins game Thursday against New Jersey.

A pass by Craig Adams in his offensive zone bypassed everyone and headed toward the corner in the far end. Linemate Tanner Glass took off in pursuit of the puck. It became a sprint between him and Devils defenseman Peter Harrold.

Previously, the two would have chased until one touched the puck. Now, it was a matter of a linesman determining which player would reach the puck first, based on their positioning at the nearest faceoff dot. Because the players were side-by-side, that made it a race to the left dot.

There was just one flaw in the presentation of the play, as Glass saw it: He gained on, then moved slightly ahead of, Harrold before the two got to the dot, yet Harrold was ruled the "winner," and the Penguins were charged with icing.

That gave the puck to New Jersey for a faceoff in the Penguins end, and Penguins coach Dan Bylsma used his only timeout to give the players on the ice a breather because they are not allowed to change after an icing. That underscored Glass' hatred of the new rule.