Even with the flu, Wayne Gretzky had to enjoy this return to Madison Square Garden.
Back in the building where he played the final game of his Hall of Fame career eight years earlier, Gretzky stood behind the Phoenix Coyotes bench for the first time in New York and coached his club to a 5-1 rout of the New York Rangers on Sunday night.
Coyotes goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 34 of 35 shots against the Rangers.
(Seth Wenig/Associated Press)
Joel Perrault scored twice and added an assist in just his second game of the season, and Ilya Bryzgalov rode a strong start after a rare day off and made 34 saves. The Coyotes earned their second win in two days and third on a six-game road trip that has two stops left.
The Coyotes entered with the fewest goals scored in the Western Conference and took on the Rangers, who had allowed a league-low 70. Neither trend held true.
Daniel Carcillo, Radim Vrbata, Fredrik Sjostrom and Perrault all scored in the second period when the Coyotes blew the game open with four goals on 11 shots. Phoenix hit the four-goal mark for the fourth time in six games.
Not bad for the Coyotes' first visit to the Garden since Oct. 28, 2002. The Rangers had been 9-1 against the franchise, formally the Winnipeg Jets, dating to a win on Jan. 6, 1992.
Gretzky retired as a member of the Rangers on April 18, 1999, after his third season with New York.
Perrault, recalled from San Antonio of the American Hockey League on Friday, had an assist in the Coyotes' 4-1 win at New Jersey in his season debut on Saturday. His power-play goal 3:11 in against the Rangers gave Phoenix a 1-0 lead.
Another man-advantage tally with 1:14 left in the second stretched the lead to 5-0.
Bryzgalov stopped five shots on New York's first power play, whistled 25 seconds after the opening faceoff, and the Coyotes grabbed the lead on the first shot registered against backup goalie Steve Valiquette.
Dan Girardi scored for the Rangers in the third period.
The Coyotes took advantage of sloppy Rangers play and the shakiness of Valiquette, who got the start because No. 1 goalie Henrik Lundqvist was on the bench with the flu.
New York outshot Phoenix 11-10 in the first period and trailed 1-0. The Coyotes' shot total didn't change much in the second, but they consistently found the back of the net.
Carcillo, the NHL leader with 145 penalty minutes, got to a loose puck that kicked out in front after miscommunication behind the net between Valiquette and teammate Marc Staal, and fired in his fifth goal at 2:14.
Vrbata pushed the advantage to three 1:16 later with his 13th, taking advantage of a turnover by defenceman Michal Rozsival behind the net.
Sjostrom, who had two goals and an assist Saturday, continued his binge with his sixth at 12:34. Perrault then connected again, bringing boos raining down from frustrated fans who watched the Rangers lose for the fifth time in six games (1-4-1), including three straight at home.
The Rangers have allowed 20 goals in their last four losses, sandwiched around a 1-0 overtime victory against New Jersey a week earlier.
Girardi scored a power-play goal with 8:30 remaining to spoil Bryzgalov's shutout bid. The Coyotes goalie played the first 12 games after being claimed off waivers by Phoenix, before giving way to Mikael Tellqvist on Saturday.
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