Coyotes Still Win With Their Backup Plan, 3-1

Robert Esche made the most of a rare start for the Phoenix Coyotes.

Esche, making an unscheduled start in place of Sean Burke, made 38 saves in his first start since Feb. 6 as the Coyotes defeated the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-1, Tuesday night at Phoenix for their fifth consecutive victory.

“You don’t lose your focus, but you practice all the time but aren’t battle-tested,” Esche said. “You start to wonder if you’re part of it anymore.”

Esche had expected to spend his 11th consecutive game watching from the bench, but got the nod a couple of hours before game time when Burke arrived at the arena with flu-like symptoms.

Esche was pulled in the first period of his last start, also against Chicago and also at home. But Tuesday, after an unsteady start making 13 saves as his teammates opened a 2-0 lead, he settled down to hold the Blackhawks to the lone goal as Chicago outshot the Coyotes, 26-15.

“We dodged a bullet,” Phoenix Coach Bob Francis said. “Robert stole one for us. It was coyote ugly.”

Daniel Briere and Brad May scored first-period goals, both on breakaways, and Michal Handzus added an empty-net goal for the Coyotes, who are unbeaten in regulation in their last nine games (7-0-1-1).

Phoenix pulled even with the idle Kings and St. Louis for fifth place in the Western Conference with 75 points, and moved within five points of the Pacific Division-leading San Jose Sharks.

Dallas 5, Washington 2--Sergei Zubov had a goal and two assists at Washington as the Stars snapped a two-game losing streak with a victory over the Capitals.

Both Dallas and Washington are fighting for the final playoff spot in the Western and Eastern Conference, respectively.

The Stars entered the game with a two-point lead over Edmonton for the eighth spot while Washington was three points behind New Jersey and New York for the Eastern Conference’s last slot.

New York Islanders 3, Buffalo 0--Chris Osgood made 28 saves for his fourth shutout in Michael Peca’s return to Buffalo, as the Islanders defeated the Sabres.

Kip Miller, Dave Scatchard and Jason Blake scored for New York.

Peca, the former Sabre captain traded to the Islanders last summer after a season-long holdout, was held without a point and was booed every time he touched the puck.

Tampa Bay 4, Atlanta 4--Dan Boyle scored with 11:55 left in regulation at Atlanta and the Lightning rallied from a three-goal deficit to tie the Thrashers.

Martin Cibak, Dave Andreychuk and Ben Clymer also had goals for Tampa Bay, which scored twice in the third period.

Lubos Bartecko scored two goals for Atlanta, which ended a three-game losing streak. Brian Pothier and Pascal Rheaume also scored for the Thrashers.

Philadelphia 1, Toronto 1--Gary Roberts scored with 2:05 remaining in the third period at Toronto and Corey Schwab made 22 saves as the Maple Leafs tied the Flyers.

John LeClair scored for Philadelphia, which held a team meeting on Monday after losing to Toronto on Sunday.

Vancouver 5, Nashville 0--Todd Bertuzzi had two goals and two assists and Brendan Morrison had a goal and two assists as the Canucks won at Nashville.

Vancouver held the Predators to one first-period shot, matching Nashville’s record low set in 1999, also against the Canucks.

Vancouver’s Dan Cloutier stopped 23 shots for his sixth shutout of the season and seventh of his career.

Ottawa 4, Minnesota 3--Magnus Arvedson’s goal 1:41 into overtime lifted the Senators over the Wild at St. Paul, Minn.

Pascal Dupuis’ rebound goal 2:26 into the third period tied the game for the Wild, which saw its three-game winning streak end.

Todd White had a goal and an assist for the Senators, who also got goals from Chris Neil and Radek Bonk.

The New York Rangers traded forwards Manny Malhotra and Barrett Heisten to the Dallas Stars for forwards Martin Rucinsky and Roman Lyashenko. Malhotra, 21, has seven goals and six assists in 56 games with New York this season. Lyashenko was recalled from Utah of the AHL earlier in the day after Dallas waived right wing Rob DiMaio.