Friday, Feb. 23 7:00pm ET
Roenick third American to reach 400 goals
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BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – Jeremy Roenick and Keith Tkachuk have been
linked together as linemates on the ice and in dozens of trade
rumors off it.
It was only fitting that Tkachuk played a big hand in Roenick's
milestone night.
|  | | Phoenix's Keith Tkachuk, center, didn't score on Friday, but finished with five assists vs. the Sabres. |
Roenick recorded his ninth three-goal game and became only the
third U.S.-born player to reach 400 career goals in leading the
Phoenix Coyotes to a 7-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Friday.
"For (Tkachuk) to get the puck for me and for him to assist on
it, seriously means a lot," said Roenick, who entered the game
with 399 goals. "I've been very fortunate to play with a lot of
great players in my time, it's only right for the guy that's helped
me out the most lately. To get that puck and congratulate me, that
was real special."
Roenick joins fellow Americans Joe Mullen, who scored 502 goals,
and Pat LaFontaine (468), to break the 400-goal plateau.
Along with fishing the puck out of the net following Roenick's
first goal, Tkachuk finished with five assists as the Coyotes moved
into a tie with idle Vancouver for sixth in the Western Conference.
"I'm glad I was part of his 400th goal, because that's history.
It was fun to be a part of it," Tkachuk said.
As for the brewing trade talk involving the two, Tkachuk said:
"We can't control those distractions. We can just control what we
do on the ice, and that's play hard every shift. And fortunately
we've been responding since the rumors heavily hit."
Shane Doan, who rounds out the Roenick-Tkachuk line, added two
goals and two assists, as the three combined for 13 points. Juha
Ylonen also scored twice marking Phoenix's first in Buffalo in five
trips (1-3-1) since the franchise moved from Winnipeg.
Stu Barnes, Curtis Brown and J.P. Dumont scored for Buffalo,
which blew a chance to win five straight for the first time in
three seasons. The Sabres also dropped to sixth in the East
standings, falling a point behind Pittsburgh which beat the
Rangers.
Sabres goalie Dominik Hasek had his shutout string end at a
career-high 178 minutes, 22 seconds when Roenick opened the scoring
nine minutes into the game. Hasek, who was pulled after two periods
after giving up four goals on 22 shots, was coming off consecutive
shutouts.
"Soft play in our zone killed us," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff
said. "They skated a little better. They won the 1-on-1 battles.
They won the battles. They won the fight. They won the goaltending.
They were better offensively. That leads up to getting smoked."
The seven goals were the most for the Coyotes since beating
Carolina 7-5 last March 1.
The Sabres haven't given up seven goals since losing 7-2 to
Detroit on Dec. 28, 1999.
The game featured a wild finish as the teams combined for four
goals – two each – in a 1:50 span of the third period.
Buffalo cut Phoenix's lead to 5-3 when Brown and Dumont scored
34 seconds apart. The Coyotes immediately responded as Ylonen and
Doan scored 66 seconds apart to cap the scoring with 6:38
remaining.
Phoenix took control when Roenick, with his second of the night,
and Ylonen scored 41 seconds apart to make it 4-1 with 6:30 left in
the second period.
Roenick's goal came on the power play when, parked to the left
of the net, he redirected Teppo Numminen's hard pass from the
point. Ylonen scored when the Sabres defense allowed him to skate
into the slot and snap a shot past a helpless Hasek.
Game notes
Sabres D Richard Smehlik did not play after aggravating a
groin injury in Thursday's 1-0 win at New Jersey. An MRI came up
negative, but Smehlik is expected to be out at least a few days.
.... ... The Coyotes improved to 19-5-3-1 this season and
87-27-14-1 all-time when both Roenick and Tkachuk record a point.
... The Coyotes went 2-for-5 with the man advantage against the
NHL's top penalty killing unit. Phoenix has now scored two or more
power-play goals in a game 11 times this season.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Phoenix Clubhouse
Buffalo Clubhouse
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Phoenix 7
Buffalo 3
Carolina 3
New Jersey 2
Washington 3
Montreal 1
Pittsburgh 6
NY Rangers 4
Detroit 4
St. Louis 2
Chicago 1
Atlanta 0
Dallas 5
Boston 4
Colorado 4
Minnesota 1
San Jose 3
Anaheim 1
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