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. Quincy Wilson Jersey . -- Joe Thornton scored the tiebreaking goal with 5:39 left in regulation to help the San Jose Sharks overcome a two-goal deficit to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 on Thursday night. Eric Ebron Jersey . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins (5) – He was locked in all night, made huge stops on Benoit Pouliot, Raphael Diaz, Ryan Mcdonagh, Carl Hagelin, Rick Nash (twice) but none better than the three saves on Mats Zuccarello. http://www.cheapcoltsjerseysauthentic.com/...e-rhodes-jersey . Henderson (20-3) received winning scores of 48-47 and 49-46, and the other judge scored it 48-47 for Thomson (20-6). The announcement drew boos from the United Center crowd. "Train this hard for this long, its such a long camp and I see my title shot disappear," said Thomson, who fought most of the fight with a broken right hand. Jake Eldrenkamp Jersey . -- Top-ranked Stacy Lewis birdied the last three holes and five of the final six Thursday for an 8-under 64 and a share of the lead with Mi Jung Hur in the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic. Marvell Tell III Jersey . Granato was an assistant for the Pittsburgh Penguins for the last five seasons, and he was also part of Team USAs staff at the 2014 Olympics.PORTLAND, Ore. - Gaston Fernandez scored on a header in the 85th minute to pull the Portland Timbers into a 3-3 draw with the Columbus Crew on Saturday night. There were a flurry of goals in the final 10 minutes. Portlands Will Johnson tied the match at 2-all in the 80th minute. Ethan Finlays shot deflected off a Portland player for an own goal for Columbus a minute later. The draw snapped a three-match losing streak for Columbus, but the Crew (3-4-4) remain winless in their last eight matches. Columbus hadnt scored a goal since April 26 in a 1-1 draw with the New York Red Bulls. Federico Higuain had a pair of goals for the Crew and Maximiliano Urruti opened the scoring for Portland (1-3-7) in the fifth minute. Portland defender Alvas Powell was sent off with a red card for a foul on Chad Barson in the 34th minute, putting the Timbers down a man for the rest of the match. The Timbers finished atop the Western Conference standings last season, but have just one victory this year even though they havent dropped a match at Providence Park this season. The Timbers were coming off a 1-1 draw at home against the Los Angeles Galaxy last weekend, with both goals coming in stoppage time.dddddddddddd Columbus was without defender Michael Parkhurst, who is training with the U.S. national team in advance of the World Cup. Fellow defender Waylon Francis has been called up for duty with the Costa Rican national team. The Timbers were without midfielder Diego Chara and defender Michael Harrington because of injuries in last weeks draw with the Galaxy. Chara had surgery to stabilize a fractured bone in his left hand and will miss two weeks. After Urrutis goal from the corner of the box sailed past Crew goalkeeper Steve Clark in the fifth minute, Higuain evened it nine minutes later on a goal that sailed over goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts outstretched arms and into the back of the net. The match got contentious in stoppage time just before the break when Futty Danso was called for a foul in the penalty area and Higuain beat Ricketts. The Providence Park crowd loudly booed the refs, and Timbers coach Caleb Porter shouted at them as the team walked off the field. This is the only match between the teams this season. The last Portland meeting between the teams in 2012 ended with a scoreless draw. 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