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Thursday, Mar. 9 9:00pm ET
Burke closes door on Islanders | |||||
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PHOENIX (AP) -- Sean Burke played much better than he felt. Burke made 30 saves for his second shutout and Jeremy Roenick had a goal and an assist as the revamped Phoenix Coyotes beat the New York Islanders 5-0 Thursday night. "I didn't feel as strong as I have the last couple of games," said Burke, who has 21 career shutouts. "But I found my game and just stayed with it." Trevor Letowski and Travis Green each had a goal and an assist for the Coyotes, who won for the second time in nine games (2-6-1). Mikael Renberg, acquired Wednesday from Philadelphia for Rick Tocchet, and defenseman Lyle Odelein, traded to Phoenix by New Jersey on Tuesday each recorded an assist in their Phoenix debut. "I'm an average player, so I just have to come out and play my game and play hard every night," said Odelein, traded by New Jersey for defenseman Deron Quint and a draft pick. "That's all I can do." Phoenix, which also got goals from Dallas Drake and Shane Doan, moved within six points of the idle Dallas Stars for the Pacific Division lead. "It's almost a fresh start for us," Letowski said. "Hopefully, this can be a turning point." New York had its two-game winning streak snapped. The Islanders are winless in six of eight (2-5-1). "It looked a lot like an ambush, there's no doubt about it," Islanders coach Butch Goring said. "We never did seem to get into the game. We had a lot of guys out of position and letting their checks go." Renberg, teamed with Roenick and Benoit Hogue on the Coyotes' first line, made a good impression on his new teammates. He skated down the left boards into the Islanders' zone and slid a cross-ice pass to Benoit Hogue. Hogue then fed Roenick, who beat Kevin Weekes on a backhander for his team-leading 31st goal just 3:28 in. "When new players step right in and help like that, morale's going to improve," Coyotes coach Bob Francis said, "and there are going to be a lot of smiles in the locker room." Doan made it 2-0 at 7:58 when he parked to Weekes' left and one-timed a pass from Green for his 22nd goal. Doan, the seventh pick in the 1995 draft, entered this season with only 22 career goals in three-plus seasons. Sloppy play by the Islanders inside their own zone led to Drake's goal midway through the second. Brad Isbister collided with teammate Steve Webb while trying to clear the zone and fumbled the puck onto Letowski's stick. Dallas Drake took Letowski's pass just below the left faceoff circle and shot just inside the far post for his 12th goal and a 3-0 Phoenix lead at 10:48. Letowski extended the lead with 33.9 seconds left in the period. Weekes stopped Letowski's initial shot, but Letowski poked the puck free from between the kneeling goalies' pads and fired in his 15th goal. Stephen Valiquette replaced Weekes at the start of the third and surrendered Green's 21st goal with 10:55 remaining. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard NY Islanders Clubhouse Phoenix Clubhouse RECAPS Ottawa 7 Pittsburgh 0
Phoenix 5 AUDIO/VIDEO   Jeremy Roenick scores the acrobatic backhanded goal.avi: 571 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1   | |||||