Arizona Coyotes split season series with Carolina Hurricanes

Only a matter of days after defeating the Hurricanes in Carolina, the Coyotes lost to them in Arizona.

Mike Smith found his form in net again, keeping the Coyotes in the contest all night despite once again facing far more than his counterpart on the other side of the ice.

But Arizona’s offense dried up and had it not been for a bit of puck luck, the Coyotes may have found themselves shut out instead of losing to the score of 2 to 1.

Scoring Summary

First Period

No scoring in the first period as the Hurricanes out shot the Coyotes 14 to 8.

Second Period

1-0 Arizona - With the Coyotes cycling in the zone, Luke Schenn finds time and space at the point and loads up a big slap shot. Through traffic, the puck deflects off Anthony Duclair’s stick and finds its way through Eddie Lack’s five-hole but stops in the blue paint behind him. Nobody knows where the puck is and all freeze to look for it, but Peter Holland sweeps through behind Lack, finding and knocking the puck home to open the scoring. Assists to Duclair and Schenn at 2:23.

1-1 Tie - After circling the offensive zone, Victor Rask feeds the puck back to the point where Jaccob Slavin lets rip a one timer. As he drives to the net, Teuvo Teräväinen redirects the shot past Mike Smith and in. Assists to Jaccob Slavin and Victor Rask at 4:46.

Third Period

2-1 Carolina - With two Coyotes falling down in their offensive zone, the Hurricanes come back on the rush with a 2 on 1 chance. Jeff Skinner’s initial shot goes off the stick of a sliding Jakob Chychrun and then bounces off the top goal bar over a sprawling Mike Smith. The rebound falls back in the blue paint right in front of the goal and with Smith out of position, Derek Ryan is able push the puck in for an easy goal. Assist to Skinner at 16:03.

Three Answers

1. Can the Coyotes exploit the Carolina goaltending again? - Even with one of the season’s worst goaltenders in net, the Coyotes were only able to score 1 goal against the Hurricanes.
2. Will the veterans start to get better? - Shane Doan again looked more energized tonight than earlier in the season but the veterans, like most of the team, were pretty quiet.
3. Can the Coyotes out shoot Carolina? - Another game, another night the Coyotes are out shot by their opposition. Carolina finished the game out shooting Arizona 36 shots on goal to 25.

Players of the Game

Carolina - Jaccob Slavin - Finished the night with an assist, a +/- of +2 and a whopping as well as game leading 27:20 time on ice.

Arizona - Max Domi - Put on a skills show in the second period and took a team high 3 shots on goal. Looked dangerous all night in a game where Arizona never looked too threatening as a whole.

Paw Prints

• For more on the Carolina Hurricanes, check out Canes Country.
• Alexander Burmistrov and Kevin Connauton remained scratched for tonight’s game after sustaining injuries in Boston and Buffalo, respectively. Teemu Pulkkinen was a healthy scratch for the night.
• Mike Smith got the start tonight. He saved 33 of 35 shots he faced for a very healthy .943 save percentage.
• Carolina opted for Eddie Lack in net after he was heavily criticized by his coach earlier in the week. Tonight lack made 24 saves from 25 shots for an excellent .960 save percentage. A great way to rebound after being slammed by your own coach.
• Tonight’s game was Radim Vrbata’s 999th NHL game and Anthony Duclair’s first home game since being recalled from the Tucson Roadrunners.

Looking Ahead

Next up the Coyotes host the Ottawa Senators at Gila River Arena. Puck drop is at 7:00pm on Thursday night and you can view the game on Fox Sports Arizona or tuned into on AZ Sports 98.7 FM.