Burke, Coyotes Deliver First Loss to Avalanche

In the spirit of election season, Phoenix forward Jeremy Roenick campaigned for teammate Sean Burke.

“If he’s not player of the month for October, then they should totally end player of the month awards because he has been phenomenal,” Roenick said. “He’s the reason why we’re in this situation.”

The endorsement was well-deserved after Burke made 45 saves for his 23rd career shutout as the Coyotes handed the Colorado Avalanche its first loss of the season, 4-0, Monday night at Denver.

Roenick added a goal and an assist for the Coyotes, who ran their unbeaten streak to nine games (7-0-2). Colorado (9-1-2), off to the best start in franchise history, had won nine in a row.

“We don’t talk about streaks,” Avalanche Coach Bob Hartley said. “If you get rewarded, you turn the page and move on to the next game. If you lose, you turn the page and move on.”

The battle of the NHL’s two hottest teams turned into a landslide as Phoenix scored four goals on just 16 shots.

Burke (7-1-1), who has faced at least 30 shots in six of his nine starts, did the rest. He gave Colorado few second chances and became the first goalie to blank the Colorado since Buffalo’s Dominik Hasek did it on Feb. 8, a span of 38 games.

“He’s been unbelievable for us all year,” Phoenix captain Keith Tkachuk said. “For him to come out and make those big saves, he’s our best player right now. To get to that next level, you need great goaltending and we’re getting more than that.”

Behind goals from Roenick and Mika Alatalo, the Coyotes took a 2-0 lead into the third and put the game out of reach when Travis Green and Landon Wilson each scored in the final eight minutes.

Patrick Roy, who lost for the first time in 10 games, had allowed just 14 goals entering the game but managed only 12 saves. His goals-against average jumped from 1.51 to 1.76.

New Jersey 6, Florida 5--Bobby Holik scored from the right circle with 3:05 left in overtime to give the Devils a wild victory over the Panthers at East Rutherford, N.J.

Patrik Elias and Scott Gomez scored two goals apiece and Sergei Brylin added another as the Devils extended their unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1) by winning a game that featured seven goals on the first 10 shots.

Bret Hedican and Olli Jokinen scored twice and Igor Larionov once for Florida, which blew three two-goal leads in the first period and then came back in the third to tie the game with 5:59 remaining on Jokinen’s second goal.