Coyotes find more goals, but lose seventh straight
Clearly the Coyotes were tired of being blown out on the scoreboard, going into Monday having lost each of their last six games by no less than four goals.
The losing streak reached seven, but the final score was 5-3 against Eastern Conference powerhouse Carolina, which is gearing up for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Nick Ritchie, Loui Eriksson and Alex Galchenyuk scored goals for the Coyotes. Ritchie’s was his 10th since he debuted with the Coyotes on Feb. 25, and he has 15 points in 24 games.
“We saw more focus. We stayed with it when adversity happened,” Coyotes head coach André Tourigny said.
Nathan Smith, fresh out of college at Minnesota State, got an assist on the Ritchie goal for his first NHL point.
“It feels good to get the first point. Unfortunately we didn’t win, but yeah, just trying to make small improvements every day,” Smith said. “I’m just trying to use my skating to my advantage.”
Eriksson had not scored since March 3, and tallied his third of the season, and Galchenyuk, scratched for consecutive games last week, got his first goal since March 10 and sixth of the season.
Defenseman Kyle Capobianco sent a long pass from the other end of the ice up to Eriksson who took the puck toward the net for his goal.
“I think our game plan was trying to move the puck up quick and their (defensemen) are really aggressive, and they pinch off our forwards and Loui kind of just snuck behind,” Capobianco said. “I mean, that’s why you call him Sweetness with that finish.”
Capobianco is set to become a restricted free agent after this season and is one of the many players trying to earn an NHL contract next season, whether it be with the Coyotes or elsewhere if they choose not to bring him back.
“It’s a privilege to play in the NHL so anytime you can play, it’s great,” Capobianco said. “To my play, I think I’m just trying to simpler and try to move and join the rush and try to make some plays.”
Capobianco has mainly been an AHL player, having spent parts of the previous five seasons there. His 39 NHL games this season are by a far a career high.
“It’s the best league in the world. You want to play, you want to fight to be in it and prove that you have a spot next year. It’s not difficult trying to get up for games because you’re just lucky to be here,” Capobianco said.
The Coyotes trailed 3-0 and 4-1 before Eriksson and Galchenyuk scored, with another unlikely point producer, Capobianco, assisting on both goals.
Karel Vejmelka faced a season high 51 shots and stopped 46, tying a career high.
“That’s the style of play of Carolina. They shoot from everywhere, they sling a lot of pucks to the net,” Tourigny said. “We knew there would be a lot of shots. I really like the way we played in front of him. We gave them the outside to shoot from there, so that popped the volume but in general, we’re happy how we played defensively.”
There were five former Coyotes in the Carolina lineup, and two figured prominently in sending the home team to another defeat — Max Domi and Antti Raanta.
Domi, a former Coyotes first-round pick who spent his first three seasons with Arizona, had a goal and assist and reached 100 goals for his career. Raanta, a fan favorite who was a Coyotes goaltender from 2017 to last season before signing with Carolina, stopped 23 shots but didn’t look sharp in giving up two late second-period goals.
“I’ve got nothing but good things to say about everyone here. It’s unfortunate this is going to be my last time I personally get to play in this rink,” Domi said. The Coyotes are down to four more home games at Gila River Arena.
Raanta and another recent Coyote, Derek Stepan, were welcomed back to Gila River Arena via public address announcement.
Coyotes forward Phil Kessel reached 950 career NHL points with an assist in the second period, his team-leading 39th of the season.
Earlier in the day, Tourigny was named an assistant coach for Team Canada at the IIHF World Championship in Finland next month when the season is over. He’ll join Team Canada General Manager Shane Doan representing the Coyotes.
‘Bear’ track
Tourigny was asked how much of a toll the losing streak has taken on the coaching staff.
Up next
The Coyotes host the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night, a game between two teams just playing out the season, having long been eliminated from postseason contention. The Coyotes are 2-1 against Chicago this season, and center Travis Boyd has two goals against the Blackhawks.
Arizona (22-49-5) is on its secondlongest losing streak of the season and has the league’s lowest point total at 49. Coyotes forward Andrew Ladd, who spent 3 seasons with Chicago earlier in his career, is poised to play in his 1,000th career NHL game on Wednesday.