Shane Doan looks ready to lead the committee.
That the Phoenix Coyotes woke up Monday morning as the Western Conference’s fourth seed is surprising enough, but it’s all the more eye-catching when you consider this team hasn’t really had an offensive leader all season.
A strong team game supported by the goaltending of Ilya Bryzgalov is the formula Phoenix employed to engineer its out-of-the-blue – but, of course, not out of the red – stellar season.
But sooner or later you need some goals and Doan is getting back to his productive old self, with five goals and 15 points in his past eight contests. The output is especially welcome in light of the fact leading goal-scorer Scottie Upshall is out indefinitely with a torn ACL.
Doan, long known as one of the best leaders in the league, is digging in when his team needs it most. And that’s given more bite to a pack of pluggers who’ve already gone way beyond where anyone expected they would.
The Hockey News ranks the teams 1-30 each Monday based on a combination of last week’s play and a squad’s overall outlook.
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