The Arizona Republic

Coyotes give up 4 in third period

- Jose M. Romero

The Colorado Avalanche made sure there would be no furious comeback from the Arizona Coyotes Saturday night, scoring four goals in the third period on their way to a 6-2 win at Gila River Arena.

Johan Larsson and Clayton Keller scored for the Coyotes, but Colorado’s speed and skill were too much for them in both Friday’s and Saturday’s games. Arizona finished what is likely their longest homestand of the season with a 3-4-2 record over the nine games.

The Coyotes got bad news before the game, as points leader Conor Garland was announced as day to day with a lower body injury. So Garland and his seven goals and team-best 12 assists were unavailabl­e, leaving the Coyotes even further challenged against the Avalanche, widely considered a Stanley Cup Finals contender.

“‘Gars’ is a big part of our team, obviously. I called him and he wanted to play, but it wouldn’t have been right for him to play,” Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet said. “And we need him for the next 20, 30 games, so we’ll figure it out the next couple of days.”

Nathan MacKinnon, Jacob MacDonald, Gabriel Landeskog, Joonas Donskoi, Tyson Jost and PierreEdou­ard Bellemare scored goals for Colorado. Landeskog, Donskoi, Jost and Bellemare scored in the third period, while Larsson scored in the third for the Coyotes when his shot went off the stick of a Colorado defender and into the net.

Larsson’s goal was originally credited to defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin, which would have been the first of his NHL career, but was changed after the game on the official game statistics report.

Keller got his first goal since Feb. 15 when defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsso­n tried a shot from distance that Keller redirected past Philipp Grubauer for his sixth goal of the season. That tied the game at 1 with 5:47 left in the second period, but the Avalanche retook the lead quickly.

MacDonald zipped behind the net and his wrapround shot found an opening. Colorado took a 2-1 lead into the third period.

Antti Raanta, in his first start since Feb. 13 and fourth game of the season, faced 40 shots with 35 saves.

“He’s got to stay healthy and play. He’s got to get some reps in, for sure,” Tocchet said of Raanta.

The third period was almost all Avalanche, who poured it on with successful rushes up the ice. The final goal they scored was into an empty net for Bellemare.

The Coyotes will get a much-needed day off on Sunday and then take advantage of a couple of more gamefree days to practice.

“Our team always plays better when we practice. I think I’m one of those guys that loves to practice,” Keller said. “You want to come to the rink every day with the mindset of getting better. Whatever it is I think our team, whenever we practice, we tend to play better. It’s on to the next game now and we’ve got to stay positive because it’s a long season, flush these two games down and look forward to the next one.”

 ?? MARK J. REBILAS/USA TODAY SPORTS ?? Coyotes goaltender Antti Raanta (32) checks Avalanche center Tyson Jost (17) d at Gila River Arena.
MARK J. REBILAS/USA TODAY SPORTS Coyotes goaltender Antti Raanta (32) checks Avalanche center Tyson Jost (17) d at Gila River Arena.

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