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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
PHOENIX (AP) -- Ten-year NHL veteran Joe Juneau and Trevor
Letowski, a breath of fresh air for Phoenix in his rookie season,
were a winning combination for the Coyotes against the Florida
Panthers.
|  | | Florida Panthers' Denis Shvidki gets sandwiched by Coyotes goalie Sean Burke. |
Letowski set up the winning goal by taking the puck away from
Pavel Bure, Florida's fastest skater, and Juneau scored 1:15 into
overtime as the Coyotes, notorious for fast starts and playoff
flops, set a franchise record for the best six-game start by
beating the Panthers 2-1 Wednesday night.
"Trevor beat Bure wide and set up Joe, and that says something
about speed," coach Bob Francis said.
Letowski, who did not reach contract terms with the Coyotes
until Friday and was in the lineup for the first time this season,
caught up with Bure as he was passing by the goal on a circle
behind the net, took the puck and dished off a backhander to Juneau
in the slot for the winner.
"You want to try and make something happen," Letowski said.
"You know, I had a half-step on the guy, and Joey made a good play
to bury it, so it's an exciting start for me, and I can't wait to
play some more games."
The Coyotes (5-1-0) are one-half game better than the 1982-83
team, when the franchise was in Winnipeg, which was 4-1-1.
Sean Burke, facing the Panthers for the first time since they
traded him to Phoenix last Nov. 19, stopped 30 shots -- 26 after he
gave up a power-play goal to Bret Hedican 3:03 into the game.
"This was probably the best I've felt this season so far,"
Burke said. "I had some jump in my legs, and for me it was a big
game playing against my old team. I've got a lot of friends on the
other side there. You want to come up big against your old team."
Burke was screened by traffic in front as Hedican's slap shot
from near the blue line threaded its way through, giving the
winless Panthers their first lead of the season.
They protected it for more than two periods before Phoenix
caught up 5:04 into the third on a rebound goal by Jyrki Lumme.
Jeremy Roenick took the puck off the boards, kicked it ahead and
skated diagonally across the ice for a 35-foot wrist shot that
bounced back to Lumme.
The Swedish defenseman let fly from the edge of the circle,
ruining 21-year-old Roberto Luongo's bid for his second career
shutout and Florida's bid for its first victory.
"The overall effort tonight was outstanding," coach Terry
Murray said. "To play 58 minutes of a game the way we did coming
into this building, against a team that's played extremely well to
start the year, there's nothing more you can ask of your team."
Luongo had 22 saves in Florida's third overtime game of the
season and second straight.
Game notes
The assist was the 499th of Roenick's career. ... Letowski
replaced Yuha Ylonen, who has a bruised kneecap. ... The Coyotes
are 4-0 at home this season -- the best start in franchise history.
The 1992-93 and 1999-2000 teams also started 3-0. ... Phoenix leads
the series 6-5-2. ... Florida outscored the Coyotes 13-2 in two
games last season. ... Juneau has 24 points (8-16) in 27 career
games against the Panthers.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Florida Clubhouse
Phoenix Clubhouse
RECAPS
Colorado 5
Columbus 1
Carolina 3
Pittsburgh 2
Dallas 2
San Jose 1
Minnesota 6
Tampa Bay 5
NY Rangers 4
Chicago 2
Phoenix 2
Florida 1
Vancouver 4
Calgary 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Joe Juneau scores the overtime goal.
avi: 756 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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