Glendale, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) - Mike Ribeiro potted a pair of goals, including the go-ahead marker 5:47 into the third period to lift the Phoenix Coyotes to a 4-2 victory over the Calgary Flames on Tuesday at Jobing.com Arena.
Radim Vrbata opened the scoring in the first and Rob Klinkhammer added an empty-netter late to provide enough support for Mike Smith, who stopped 22-of- 24 shots in the Coyotes' second straight win.
Joe Colborne and Lee Stempniak each scored once, while Joey MacDonald allowed three goals on 32 shots for the Flames, who fell to 1-3 on a five-game road trip that wraps up Thursday in Dallas.
Calgary trailed 2-1 after 40 minutes, but found the equalizer early in the third when Jiri Hudler came up with a turnover at his own blue line and tipped the puck ahead to Colborne, who skated in on a breakaway and stuffed the puck past the extended right pad of Smith to tie the game at the 3:00 mark.
Ribeiro answered with his second of the night under three minutes later, as Keith Yandle faked a slapper from the top of the left circle and feathered a pass through the slot to the low right side, where Ribeiro lifted a shot high over a prone MacDonald to make it 3-2 with 14:13 left in the game.
"He finds opportunities," Phoenix head coach Dave Tippett said of Ribeiro. "That's what skill players do, they find ways to have an effect on the game offensively."
The Coyotes killed off a holding minor against Martin Hanzal before Klinkhammer added an empty-netter with six seconds left to account for the final margin.
"We got some timely goals and made a game out of it, but too little, too late," Stempniak said. "We'd like to have a 60-minute effort to give ourselves a better chance."
With the Coyotes skating on the man-advantage near the midpoint of the first, Vrbata buried a shot from the low right circle off a nice feed from Yandle for his 200th career goal and a 1-0 Phoenix lead at the 8:41 mark.
Ribeiro doubled the margin with a tip-in tally at 10:19 of the second stanza, but Stempniak pounded home a long rebound from the slot with 1:34 left in the period to bring the Flames within 2-1.
Game Notes
Hudler has recorded at least one point in all nine games this season ... Ribeiro extended his point streak to seven games ... Calgary went 0-for-3 on the power play, while Phoenix finished 1-for-3 on the man advantage.
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