Coyotes Beat Leafs 6-3

Petr Prucha scored twice for Phoenix and Keith Yandle and Martin Hanzal each chipped in three assists as the Coyotes used a big second period Wednesday to double up the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3.

Vernon Fiddler, Paul Bissonnette, Scottie Upshall and Radim Vrbata, into an empty net, also scored for Phoenix. Daniel Winnik added two assists.

Ilya Bryzgalov, who was largely untested until the third period, picked up the win for the Coyotes.

Phil Kessel scored for the third straight game for the Leafs and Jamal Mayers popped his first of the year in front of a crowd of 19,888 at Air Canada Center.

Alexei Ponikarovsky pulled Toronto to within two goals midway through the third, but the Leafs couldn’t climb all the way back.

The Coyotes, one of the biggest surprises of the season thus far, continued a recent stretch of hot play that has seen them go 7-1-1 over their last nine games. Most observers pegged Phoenix (20-12-2) for the basement of the Western Conference, but the team has been in the thick of the playoff picture all season.

For long stretches of Wednesday’s game, Phoenix executed the strong, defence-first game plan of coach Dave Tippett, who replaced Wayne Gretzky behind the bench before the season.

Meanwhile, the Leafs waited way too long to find their game, turning in the type of sub-par effort rarely seen in recent weeks.

While he didn’t get a ton of support, Toronto goalie Vesa Toskala did little to thwart the Coyotes attackers.

Prucha opened the scoring in the first period, taking pass at the side of the crease and wiring a shot short-side past Toskala.

Some sloppy defensive play by Toronto allowed Prucha to put his team up 2-0 just 0:51 into the second, but exactly a minute later Mayers got that one back on a breakaway started by Leafs defenceman Francois Beauchemin.

However, Phoenix took over with three unanswered goals thanks some hard work and a couple fortunate bounces.

Fiddler backhanded home a loose puck that came to rest in the slot before Bissonnette tipped home a point shot from Yandle to make it 4-1.

Upshall was credited with his goal when the puck went through the Toronto goalmouth, deflected off Ian White’s skate and trickled over the line before Toskala could smother it with his glove.

Kessel scored a late second-period power-play goal before Ponikarovsky brought the score the Maple Leafs to within 5-3 from the high slot in the third.

The loss ended a four-game home winning streak for Toronto, while the Coyotes earned their fourth consecutive victory over the Leafs in the teams’ only meeting of the season.