Game Recap
After beating the Predators and the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Arizona Coyotes are officially on a win streak. The Desert Dogs flipped the script last night and rode an excellent third period to a win, splitting the series with the Penguins.
It was a great effort all around by the Coyotes, who didn’t trail a second of the game. They also mercifully minimized their penalties, which certainly helped them.
Jason Zucker got the Coyotes going two and a half minutes in with his seventh of the season from Logan Cooley and Josh Brown.
The puck looked to be out of Cooley’s reach as it headed to the corner, but he stretched out his stick and whacked it towards the front of the net for a streaking Zucker. That first goal set the pace for the Coyotes, and the first period ended with the Yotes leading 1-0.
The second period saw more back-and-forth action, with the Coyotes and the Penguins trading goals.
Lars Eller tied it up just under five minutes in on a bouncing shot that trickled past goaltender Ingram with his 8th of the season. Former Coyotes prospect P.O. Joseph registered his third assist on the play.
Then, at the 11-minute mark, defenseman Juuso Välimäki scored his first of the season from Clayton Keller and Matias Maccelli, regaining the Coyotes’ lead.
Keller brought two Penguins players with him to the blue line, allowing Välimäki to get wide-open between the faceoff circles. One wrist shot later, and the Coyotes were up 2-1.
But the Penguins weren’t done yet, and they retied the game five and a half minutes later, with Sidney Crosby scoring his 27th of the season from Karlsson and Malkin. Crosby was waiting at the side of the night and knocked a pass from Karlsson in, tying the game at 2-2.
With three and a half minutes left in the middle period, you may have expected the Coyotes to hang back and try to finish the period without giving up another one. But not last night, as the Coyotes continued to apply pressure, and Alex Kerfoot scored a late one from Zucker to give the Yotes a 3-2 lead.
It was a hard-working goal, with Zucker and Kerfoot doing great work behind the net. Eventually, the puck ended up at the side of the net, and Kerfoot shot it in to give the Coyotes a lead going into the final intermission.
With a one-goal lead and 20 minutes left to play, the Coyotes looked like they would have their work cut out for them. The Penguins started the period with a heavy push, but Ingram overcame the initial onslaught. Then, on a Coyotes counter-attack, the Penguins took their final penalty of the game, with Jansen Harkins going to the box for hooking Logan Cooley. What followed was one of the crazier sequences you can see in a hockey game.
Midway through the Yotes’ power play, Jason Zucker hooked Bryan Rust, leading to a delayed call and the Penguins pulling their goaltender. Kris Letang had the puck in the Penguin’s zone and passed it back to Evgeni Malkin, who must not have been ready for the puck because it went off his stick into the empty net, giving the Coyotes a 4-2 lead.
You don’t typically see goals like that because most players have the sense not to try a pass in front of an empty net for obvious reasons. Lawson Crouse would be credited for the goal, a power play, own, empty-net goal. More amazing still is that with that goal, the Coyotes became the first team to score on a power play without registering a shot.
The Yotes would kill the Zucker penalty and keep up the pressure as the period went on. Nick Bjugstad would notch his 10th of the season from Liam O’Brien and Jack McBain, giving the Coyotes a three-goal lead and further demoralizing the Penguins.
McBain flipped the puck up to Liam O’Brien, who passed the puck up to a streaking Bjugstad. Bjugstad fired the puck over Tristan Jarry’s glove, and it was a 5-3 game.
It was an excellent all-around effort by the Coyotes. The offense was great, they stayed disciplined, and they got some fantastic goaltending. And with a win, they are just two points behind the Nashville Predators for the final Wild Card spot, with two games in hand.
The one downside of the matchup was the Coyotes sustained another injury. Defenseman Matt Dumba was limited to just 7:12 and missed the third period. Thankfully, the Coyotes were playing with seven defensemen so they could absorb the loss.
Lines
Three Stars
- Jason Zucker – Goal and an assist
- Connor Ingram – 25 saves on 27 shots
- Sidney Crosby – Goal
Next Game
The Coyotes will head back on the road with a match against the Florida Panthers on Wednesday, that is the start of a back-to-back.