It was a good old fashioned scrum at the Staples Center last night.
The Phoenix Coyotes and Los Angeles Kings got into four fights, three in the first period, and had a combined total of 62 penalty minutes as the Coyotes continued their playoff surge with a 1-0 shutout.
Radim Vrbata scored his 27th goal of the season, matching a career high, and Mike Smith made 28 saves in the 15th shutout of his career. Phoenix moved to seventh in the Western Conference with 65 points, two behind the Chicago Blackhawks and four points behind the Pacific Division leading San Jose Sharks.
“We are deserving to win right now,” Smith said. “At the start of the season, maybe we lost some games we didn't deserve to win. But right now we're finding ways to win, and we're doing it the right way.”
The Coyotes played the majority of the game without out defenseman Rostislav Klesla, who left the game with an upper body injury following a hit from Dustin Brown that sparked the physical nature of the game. Captain Shane Doan took exception to the hit, dropping the gloves with Brown three seconds later.
“Both sides were trying to set the tone,” said Doan. “Brownie plays that way all the time. He hits hard. I mean, I'd love to have him on my team. But it's part of the game to defend your teammates.”
41 seconds later, Smith got into an altercation with Anze Kopitar which led to a mini brawl on the ice between the two teams.
The Coyotes return to Jobing.com Arena tomorrow night to host the Dallas Stars, who are in 10th place in the West, 4 points behind Phoenix. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Arizona Plus at 6 PM.
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