Night three of the season will see the Coyotes and the Sharks battle it out for sole possession of first place, while up the hill the Stars will be hungry for their first win in the battle for the basement with the Ducks. The Ducks have been hurting without their star forward and goal scorer Dan Galpin, reportedly away for yet another couple of weeks. He’s giving himself a challenge to climb his way into this year’s top ten scoring list as shown, already shaping up in the screen shot above.

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As expected Kevin Lim of the Sharks sits on top of the pack followed close behind by a couple goal getting Coyotes, Marcus Schmaling and Scott Stanley. Tied for the fourth spot is the ever-dangerous Chris Buss of the Sharks, and the sleeper rookie defenseman Dave Snowden of the Coyotes. It’s still early in the season and anything can happen. Note the Sharks Kevin Lim had an extra tie breaking game where he picked up the three points he now leads Marcus Schmaling by.

Stars scoring leader Mark Steunenberg picked up four goals in a tough 7 – 6 loss to the Sharks, getting the wind knocked out of them for the night. Net- minder Cody Funston rose to the occasion in game two to record the league's first shutout of the season and the fourth win for the Sharks.

Ducks Captain Stephen Ho led his team with four assists in game one to teammate Adam deJong’s hat-trick. And in game two Ho's behind the net fake to one side, past the defense, quick wrap around goal stole Coyotes rookie net-minder John Hetherington’s shutout hopes for the night.

Surprisingly, even to himself, Hetherington sits atop the goaltenders list with a 2.75 goals against average with help from some great defense, and tireless back checking. Together the Coyotes team have allowed only 11 goals in four games.

It's a fact that the goal scorers are who win games in the end but it’s the aggressive two-way players that help fill out a team and wear down their opponents. Good work so far gents, keep your stick down and your head up!

On a side note, and coming from a Vancouver ball hockey league referee, take it a little easier out there along the boards and behind the net, it’s not worth a head injury. Give guys some breathing room when the play is jammed up. We don't have referees to whistle the play down. Let’s just say if we had a referee at QM last week there would have been some penalties called. Let's keep it fun, safe and fair out there!

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING:

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