Palffy Can Take It at the Right Time

Instead of wearing the number 33 on the back of his jersey, right wing Ziggy Palffy might as well wear a bull’s-eye.

As the Western Conference playoff race has tightened, opponents have targeted Palffy more often--especially on Monday, when the Vancouver Canucks knew enforcer Stu Grimson was suspended and they could rough Palffy without fear of major retribution. The Phoenix Coyotes did the same Tuesday as Brad May took a run at Palffy at 10:34 of second period. Palffy was stunned but able to come back and kill a penalty.

For weeks, Coach Andy Murray had lamented the failure of his big players to play big. Palffy, with five goals and eight points in the three games before Tuesday’s game at Phoenix, proved he can take a hit and take revenge by scoring.

“I’ve seen his battle instinct,” Murray said. “His willingness to battle has gone up. I read that he wasn’t happy that I was on him so much. I just wanted him to play the way he’s playing now.

“I think you’d like [players] to like you, but you’d also like to win every game, and sometimes, that doesn’t go together.”

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Grimson served the final game of his two-game suspension for getting his third instigator penalty. . . . Murray said he has had no further discussions with General Manager Dave Taylor over the contract extension Taylor offered him earlier this season. “I think it’s something we’ll talk about later,” said Murray, who has a year remaining on his contract.