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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
PHOENIX (AP) -- Brendan Shanahan went into high gear the moment
the puck dropped, and he never lost momentum.
|  | | The Coyotes' Shane Doan can't get the puck past Red Wings goalie Manny Legace. |
Shanahan scored a goal and had two assists as the Detroit Red
Wings snapped the third-longest unbeaten streak in Phoenix history
with a 4-2 victory over the Coyotes on Wednesday night.
"We got to play our style," he said. "If we're going to play,
let's play a forceful game, like the style we used to play."
Backup goalie Manny Legace had 26 saves in another strong game
for the Red Wings. He is 5-1-0 this season and 9-1-0 since signing
with Detroit in the 1999 offseason.
"We had good balance and good contributions," coach Scotty
Bowman said. "It was a strange game. We really didn't give them a
lot."
The Coyotes went undefeated in 12 straight (7-0-5), but showed
signs their momentum was slowing near the end when they went into
overtime the last three games.
The 1984-85 Winnipeg Jets went 13 games without a loss, and the
1998-1999 Coyotes set the franchise record at 14.
"They've been sitting there waiting for us when we played last
night," coach Bob Francis said. "You knew they'd come out strong.
They're a proud team."
Shanahan and Kirk Maltby scored early for Detroit, and Slava
Kozlov and Tomas Holmstrom added power-play goals in the third
period, with Shanahan assisting on each.
"We played really solid, but their two power-play goals were
killers," Phoenix forward Trevor Letowski said.
Keith Tkachuk and Brad May had the Phoenix goals.
But the goaltending, which was a huge part of the Coyotes' streak
-- they were outshot 387-253 in the last 12 games -- didn't hold up.
Backup Robert Esche gave up all four goals on 23 shots.
Shanahan scored unassisted 28 seconds into the game, streaking
on a diagonal from the left wing before some fans reached their
seats.
Maltby made it 2-0 when he took a pass from Sergei Fedorov from
the boards and fired from the slot, beating Esche high on the glove
side 8:02 into the first period.
Tkachuk was denied a goal with 4:18 left in the first when his
shot clanged off the crossbar and the left upright, bounced to the
ice and out. Trevor Letowski put the rebound into the net, but the
play was whistled dead before Letowski's shot to see if Tkachuk's
shot went in.
Officials later determined Tkachuk hit the puck with a high
stick.
But Tkachuk converted during a 5-on-3 Phoenix advantage, taking
a crossing pass from Jeremy Roenick and beating Legace with a wrist
shot from the circle 9:39 into the second period.
The Coyotes, who also trailed Los Angeles 2-0 Tuesday night
before skating to a 3-3 tie, caught up 30 seconds into the third
period. Wyatt Smith circled behind the net and flipped a pass up to
the crease.
Legace stopped a shot by Landon Wilson, but May found a crease
in the logjam of players and knocked a rebound into the net.
But Kozlov, waiting on the doorstep for a crossing pass from
Martin Lapointe, scored 2:16 later, and the Coyotes couldn't catch
up.
"I saw him in the slot, but I kept on looking at Shanahan to
throw them off," said Lapointe, who passed up a chance to add to
his eight-goal total for a more sure scoring opportunity. "I
managed to get it to Kozzy, and he knocked it in."
Game notes
The loss was the Coyotes' first at home (5-1-1), still the
best start in franchise history. The 1995-96 Winnipeg Jets were
4-0-2 in their first six home games, but 4-1-2 after seven. ...
Legace, 11-10-2 in his career, was 2-9-2 with Los Angeles before he
joined the Red Wings. ... The Red Wings have killed 36 of 39 power
plays faced in their seven road games.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Detroit Clubhouse
Phoenix Clubhouse
RECAPS
Pittsburgh 5
Philadelphia 2
Montreal 4
Florida 2
Nashville 4
New Jersey 3
Toronto 5
Carolina 0
Calgary 1
Minnesota 0
San Jose 3
Chicago 2
Detroit 4
Phoenix 2
Vancouver 7
Anaheim 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Brendan Shanahan takes the puck coast to coast for the goal.
avi: 568 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Louie DeBrusk and Darren McCarty duke it out on the ice.
avi: 1740 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Kirk Maltby takes the sweet pass from Vyacheslav Kozlov for the goal.
avi: 832 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Keith Tkachuk scores on the two-man advantage.
avi: 403 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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