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GLENDALE, Ariz. - Shane Doan stood in front of his stall scowling, the crimson in his cheeks as much from the anger inside as the physical toll from 60 minutes of give-it-all-you-got hockey. His answers were terse, key words repeated for emphasis. Once he was done with the short interview session, Doan put his head down and marched toward the back locker room in quick, purposeful steps, the rage seeming to build as he went along. Faced with a must-win game in a season that was starting to slip away, the Phoenix Coyotes fell flat, losing to the team with the NHLs worst record — at home, no less. It was more than the Coyotes captain could take. "I dont even know what our level is because were barely above average right now, if average," Doan said after the Coyotes lost 3-2 to Buffalo on Thursday night. "Its not acceptable. Not even close." The loss continued a downward spiral for the Coyotes. Playing with an owner for the first time in four years, Phoenix opened 14-4-3 for the second-best start for a franchise that started in Winnipeg in 1979. Since then, inconsistency has reigned. Once a team that relied on its grittiness and defence-first mindset, Phoenix has instead become a team that has been caught in a back-and-forth struggle, winning some games by outscoring opponents, others by occasionally getting back to its stay-at-home roots. Phoenix had a stretch with one win in six games at the start of 2014 and has lost four of six after the setback against the last-place Sabres Thursday night in the second game of a critical five-game homestand. Once in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race, the Coyotes are ninth in the West with 60 points, three behind Vancouver. "It is frustrating," said Coyotes forward Antoine Vermette, who has eight goals in eight games and a six-game points streak. "You dont want to look too far (ahead) in your schedule, but we know our situation." What made the loss to Buffalo harder to swallow was that the Coyotes had seemed to get back into their defence-and-counter groove Tuesday night against Los Angeles. Playing arguably its best game of the season, Phoenix limited most of the rival Kings chances to the outside, generated numerous good scoring chances and went on to win 3-0 behind backup goalie Thomas Greiss second shutout in three starts. To keep climbing up the standings, or at least maintain their positioning, all the Coyotes had to do was knock off the Sabres, who came into the game with the fewest wins (14), points (36) and goals (101) in the NHL. Phoenix got off to a solid start, out-shooting Buffalo 21-12 in the first period. The Sabres ended up scoring first, but the Coyotes rallied with two goals in a span of 18 seconds of the second period to go up 2-1. After that, the Coyotes sat back, almost as if they were waiting out the win instead of going to get it. A series of turnovers led to two goals for the Sabres, putting them up 3-2. A big push by the Coyotes in the third period led nowhere, leading to perhaps the most disheartening loss of the season and one very angry captain. "Were up 2-1 to start the second and we do absolutely nothing, nothing as a group. Absolutely nothing," Doan said. "We have a chance to put a team away when youre up 2-1 at home, and I dont think we got a shot for 12 minutes. Its embarrassing. Its embarrassing." The Coyotes still have time to turn it around. After facing a tough game against Pittsburgh on Saturday night, Phoenix plays its final three games before the Olympic break against teams still in the Western Conference playoff hunt: Chicago and Dallas twice. Once they return, the Coyotes will have 24 games left to make a push. Theyve done it in the past, including a late-season run to the conference finals in 2012. To do it again, they will have to play much better than they have lately. Cheap Air Max 270 Red . Philippe Desrosiers stopped 42 shots through overtime and three more in the shootout to pick up his third shutout of the season for Rimouski (31-15-7). Zachary Fucale made 28 saves for Halifax (34-17-3) in the loss. Cheap Air Max 270 White .com) - The Ottawa Senators will try to keep their slim playoff hopes alive when they face the Chicago Blackhawks who are trying to secure their place in the post-season. http://www.airmax270cheap.us/cheap-air-max-270-gold/ . Head coach Lindy Ruff confirmed on Sunday that his starting goalie has a head injury and the team will take it day by day. Cheap Air Max 270 All Blue . Chris Heisey connected for his first grand slam and Devin Mesoraco homered and drove in a career high-tying four runs as Cincinnati took advantage of Tampa Bays depleted pitching staff for a 12-4 victory on Sunday. Cheap Air Max 270 Black . The Detroit Tigers slugger fell short in his bid to become the first player to win the Triple Crown in successive seasons. NEW YORK -- It was an average performance from Jabari Parker, and it drew praise worthy of another stellar effort by the Duke freshman. "Hes a natural," Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski said after Parker had 23 points and 10 rebounds in an 80-63 victory over UCLA on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. "In different sports there are people who are naturals. Jabari is a natural. He can become even better. He embraces the moment." Bruins coach Steve Alford was impressed with the 6-foot-8 Chicago native. "Hes gifted. Hes got a lot of smoothness to him. He can be a big guard or post you," the first-year UCLA coach said. "You dont see a lot who are this polished 10, 11 games into the year." UCLA sophomore guard Kyle Anderson jumped in on the praise. "Its tough to say who is the best player on the floor, especially with that team and our group of guys, but he played really well," said Anderson, who had another all-around game for the Bruins. "We wanted to shut him down but hes tough." Parker was 7 of 13 from the field, including a 4-for-8 performance from 3-point range. He also was 5 of 5 at the free throw line and had five assists while scoring at least 20 points for the ninth time in his 11 college games. He hit a big 3 and had an impressive dunk during Dukes 16-4 run that broke open a tie game in the second half. "Im just going to do whatever it takes to win," Parker said. "I dont have to take 20 shots for us to win, I can as long as theyre good shots. Im just learning to play the proper role right now." The Blue Devils (9-2) poked and prodded UCLAs 2-3 zone from the perimeter, making 11 3-pointers in a season-high 32 attempts from beyond the arc. Rodney Hood and Quinn Cook both had 14 points for the Blue Devils. Cook had five assists and all eight of DDukes steals.dddddddddddd "We did a good job hitting Amile (Jefferson) in the middle of the zone and he became the toss-back guy," Krzyzewski said. "He got the ball right back to guys and they got rhythm shots." David Wear led the Bruins (9-2) with 16 points and Anderson, who has taken over at point guard, had 15 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. He entered the game averaging 13.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists. "Quinn Cook did a good job of pressuring the ball. That 94 feet of pressure is tough," said Anderson, who had six turnovers. "They didnt let us execute our offence. Dukes signature is the pressure defence, Thats what they want to do and we fell into it." UCLAs zone kept the Bruins in the game. Wear, who went 4 for 4 from beyond the arc, made a 3 to tie it at 43 with 17:58 to play. Duke suddenly began to connect from outside with consistency and Hood hit two 3s and Parker added another in a 16-4 run that put the Blue Devils up 61-49 with 11:33 to go. The Bruins twice got within eight points, but they got no closer in front of the crowd of 15,410. UCLA, which entered the game averaging 85.1 points, was 8 of 22 from 3-point range. Justin Adams, the Bruins leading scorer coming in with a 21.2 average, was held to 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting. "I thought they did a really good job on him," Alford said. "This was the first time this season hes been held like that, containing him and keeping him off the free throw line." The win was Dukes 23rd straight in the month of December and lifted Krzyzewski to an 8-1 record against UCLA. The Blue Devils are 2-1 at Madison Square Garden this season having beaten Alabama and lost to Arizona in the NIT Season Tip-Off in November. 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