Not often will you see a coach rest his hot goaltender against one of the best teams in the NHL in the middle of a playoff push and during a winning streak.
But that’s exactly what Dave Tippett did on Monday night in Vancouver. Jason LaBarbera was winless in his previous seven starts, but Tippett rolled the dice and played the numbers. LaBarbera was 4-1 in 5 career starts against the Canucks.
It almost paid off.
LaBarbera made 22 saves in his first start since January 31st, but Vancouver managed to win 2-1 in a shootout, snapping the Coyotes five game winning streak.
“He's played well in this building before,” Tippett said on his decision to start LaBarbera. “He was solid. He stopped the ones he had to. He managed to give us a point.”
With the point, the Coyotes increased the distance between Calgary and Colorado for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Phoenix sits in 8th place with 63 points, three ahead of the Flames and Avalanche and 4 points in front of Dallas.
The Coyotes play another pivotal game on Thursday night in Los Angeles. The rival Kings are tied with Chicago for 6th in the West with 65 points. Fox Sports Arizona Plus will have the faceoff at 8:30 PM.
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