Arizona Coyotes Steal Third Win In Last Four Games
The Arizona Coyotes hosted the Nashville Predators and rode Louis Domingue to their third win in the past four games.
Arizona Coyotes fans were treated to yet another home win at Gila River Arena on Thursday night, winning 3-2 in an overtime shootout.
Sharp play by goaltender Louis Domingue was once again the difference, allowing the Coyotes to steal a win for their second in a row and third in their last four.
By all accounts, this game should never have been close.
The Arizona Coyotes played poorly in the first period once again, getting outshot 18-6 and barely completing passes with little puck possession in the offensive zone.
The Yotes were further compromised by Martin Hanzal, Tobias Rieder, and Michael Stone all scratched due to injury. The Coyotes recalled Christian Dvorak from the Tucson Roadrunners.
Dvorak didn’t disappoint. He recorded his first NHL goal and added an assist in what was easily his finest performance of the season.
Rookie Jakob Chychrun once again held his own, and helped fellow blue-liner’s Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Alex Goligoski, Connor Murphy, Luke Schenn, and Kevin Connauton keep the score low.
Anthony Duclair also notched his first goal of the season, in what will hopefully be the first of many to come this year.
But the real story here was not Dvorak, or Duclair, or the team’s blue-line success.
The story was one of amazing goaltending by King Louis, and a great deal of luck that kept the Coyotes in the game until they could use their penalty shooting strength to come out on top.
The Coyotes allowed 37 shots on goal, while only recording 28 of their own. Midway through the second period, the team had only ten shots on goal.
The high number of penalties also didn’t help, with the Coyotes being sent to the penalty box seven times. Luckily, only one of those penalty kills was unsuccessful.
Coyotes fans at the arena vented their frustration on several occasions at what appeared to be questionable referee calls.
Indeed, when Duclair was held and later downright assaulted with no referee calls, while seven penalties were called against the Yotes, it did seem as though the refs weren’t seeing the entire 200 feet of ice.
The seventh penalty came during overtime, when the Coyotes possessed the puck for just a few seconds while the Predators shot the puck relentlessly at Domingue for most of the five minutes.
Overtime is all about puck possession, something that the Arizona Coyotes have yet to learn.
Similar to the opening night game against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Coyotes allowed their opponent to move the puck at will through the extra frame.
Only several fantastic saves by Domingue kept this game from ending with a Predators victory.
In the end, the play by Domingue, gritty shot blocking by several players, and sheer luck combined to give the Coyotes a shootout opportunity. And they made the most of it.
Anthony Duclair and Radim Vrbata both scored on backhand shots past the Predators’ Pekka Rinne, while King Louis shut the Predators down in both of their shots.
At home this season, the Arizona Coyotes have won three of four, all by one goal, with two of them coming in overtime. On the road, however, the team has lost five of six.
The Coyotes head out on the road for a Friday game against the Anaheim Ducks, followed by a Tuesday contest against the Colorado Avalanche.
If the Coyotes can pull off two road wins, they’ll be back up to .500 and return home with a 6-6 record.
That’s far more than most could have hoped for just a few days ago. Fingers crossed.
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