Night of near misses for Hawks

GLENDALE, Ariz. – The Blackawks had some good chances in the second period of their 3-1 loss to Phoenix on Thursday, but only scored on one of them.

Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp both missed the net on breakaway attempts in the period, and what looked to be a goal was overturned.

Kris Versteeg had a short-handed goal for the Hawks, who have lost two of three.

“They’re a better team,” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said of the Coyotes. “They’re deeper, they’re balanced, they have a very mobile defense and they’ve got good goaltending.”

Versteeg brought the Hawks within 3-1 at 13:56 of the second period, taking a back pass from Patrick Kane and beating Bryzgalov with a wrister from the left circle. Despite being short-handed, the Hawks spent most of the first 90 seconds of the power play cycling in the Coyotes’ zone before scoring.

Colin Fraser appeared to cut the deficit to one with 9:20 remaining, but the apparent goal was overturned by video review which showed that Fraser kicked in the puck.

“We’ve got to bear down and try to get to those opportunities,” Versteeg said. “If we score on half our opportunities it’s totally a different game.”

Ilya Bryzgalov made 31 saves for the Coyotes, who snapped a two-game losing streak.

Hanzal needed just 2:34 to give the Coyotes a 1-0 lead, sending a sharp wrist shot from the middle of the left circle between Cristobal Huet’s pads.

Mueller made it 2-0 at 11:55 on a rebound after Hanzal tried to redirect a pass from Shane Doan from the half-boards.

Upshall extended the lead to 3-0 at 10:38 of the second period.

Notes: Hawks C Jonathan Toews (concussion) skated before the game, but missed his fifth straight contest. Toews was injured Oct. 21 and might return to the lineup today against Colorado.

Phoenix was without Zbynek Michalek, who sustained a lower-body injury in the Coyotes’ 4-1 loss to Colorado on Wednesday and is listed as “week to week.” Kane has six points in six games.