CHICAGO – The Chicago Blackhawks scored four goals in the first period en route to a 7-1 victory over the Coyotes Sunday night at the United Center.
Enver Lisin scored the lone goal for Phoenix (12-13-2), which concludes a three-game trip on Wednesday night in Dallas.
“We just got outplayed, outscored and outhit,” Coyotes Head Coach Wayne Gretzky said. “They just took it to us pretty well.”
Ben Eager scored two goals, and Andrew Ladd had a goal and three assists for Chicago (12-6-7), which scored its season-high seven goals during a span of 11 consecutive shots against Coyotes goalie Ilya Bryzgalov.
Gretzky said he did not consider replacing Bryzgalov with Mikael Tellqvist because Tellqvist is nursing a lower body injury.
"It was one of those things where we couldn’t really take the chance of him getting hurt more so we made a decisison today that we were going to leave Bryzgalov in throughout the night," Gretzky said. "It was as simple as that."
Cristobal Huet stopped 20 shots for the Blackhawks.
While disturbed by the defeat, Gretzky was more displeased with Blackhawks rookie Kris Versteeg for picking a fight with Coyotes rookie Kyle Turris in the game’s final seconds. Versteeg received an instigator, fighting major and two game misconduct penalties.
“I don’t like to see an 18-year-old kid (Turris) get grabbed out of a pile in a 7-1 hockey game and take a beating,” Gretzky said. "I just don’t think that there’s any room for that. It’s a 7-1 game and the kid is 18 years old. I don’t agree with that. I’ve never seen that. We’ll see what happens. We’ve got another game against them and we’ll be ready to play them.”
The Coyotes host the Blackhawks on Jan. 6.
Chicago dominated the first 20 minutes and led the Coyotes 4-0 after it was over. The Coyotes managed just three shots on goal in the preiod.
Blackhawks center Dave Bolland put Chicago ahead 1-0 with 8:22 left in the first period when he blasted a shot from the right circle between Bryzgalov’s legs.
Chicago upped its lead to 2-0 when center Jonathan Toews beat Bryzgalov while charging through the slot. Right wings Dustin Byfuglien and Patrick Sharp also scored for Chicago in the first period.
We’ll see what happens. We’ve got another game against them and we’ll be ready to play them.” - Wayne Gretzky
Chicago added three goals within the first eight minutes of the second period.
Lisin scored his third goal in the past four games on a breakaway with 43 seconds left in the second period. Defenseman Keith Yandle set up the goal with a slick pass from the Phoenix zone.
NOTES
• Coyotes center Olli Jokinen missed his sixth game because of a shoulder injury. He is expected to play on Wednesday in Dallas.
• Blackhawks goalie Nikolai Khabibulin did not play becaiuse of a groin injury.
• Coyotes forward Daniel Carcillo got into another fight on Sunday, his third in the past two games.
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Lisin led the Coyotes four with shots on goal in 13:31 of ice time.
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Led by Zbynek Michalek with four, the Coyotes blocked 19 shots on goal.
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Sunday's game was a sellout (21,217), the 13th in a row at the United Center.
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