Coyotes tally three late goals in loss to Blues
The Arizona Coyotes injected life into a lackluster game with a lively end to its Saturday night against the playoff-bound St. Louis Blues and jeopardized its draft lottery chances in the process.
The Coyotes scored three goals in the third period, including two less than a minute from each other, to lose 5-4 in overtime. Blues defenseman Justin Faulk scored twice, including the game-winner 30 seconds into overtime.
All four goals for the Coyotes were from players who have yet to play a full NHL season.
Nate Smith scored the first goal of the game for the Coyotes at 17:11 in the first period on another setup from Stralman.
In just his second NHL game, left wing Boko Imama spearheaded the late-game rally when he scored on a dish from Alex Galchenyuk at 5:39. Michael Carcone followed up with a goal via a setup from Anton Stralman. J. J. Moser then forced overtime at 15:18 on a one-timer from the high slot.
“What’s made it special for me for Boko is he’s a long-time minor league player who made his way through adversity. He’s a little bit like Carcone,” Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said.
Imama made an impact on the ice with only 5:42 minutes logged and almost set up another goal in the second when his wraparound attempt created a rebound for Jan Jenik. Jenik took the puck and pushed it into the net along with Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington and the play was immediately called off.
The late surge was punctuated by an 11-3 advantage in shots from the Coyotes, a stark difference from the combined nine shots on goal through the first two periods.
Defense locked down on the Blues with only three shots allowed in the third period after the Blues flashed a hot 4-1 start. In his third start with the Coyotes, Harri Sateri got off to a shaky beginning with two goals allowed from Faulk and Ivan Barbashev in the first five minutes.
Brandon Saad’s goal on the power play at 16:20 established a 3-0 lead.
Although the Blues nearly fell in the third period, the Coyotes fell as victims of the Blues’ ongoing streak of 15 games without a loss in regulation. The Blues also extended its road point streak to nine games.
“We have a tough time creating offense and we found a way, we found our rhythm, and more cohesion. Our forecheck work was good and put more pucks to the net. There’s a lot of positives and a lot to build around that game,” Tourigny said.
With their tenth-straight loss, the Coyotes have entered the top-ten for the second time this season for the longest winless streak. The Coyotes set the fourth-longest winless streak in franchise history with 11 losses to start the current season.
However, the Coyotes have played against three playoff-bound teams this past week and had all games decided by two goals or less.
Lottery update
The race for best position in the upcoming NHL Draft Lottery has become trickier for the Coyotes as Saturday’s overtime loss places the team at second-to-last place, ahead of the Montreal Canadiens. The Coyotes previously held the last place spot, but are ahead of the Canadiens due to more regulation wins (22).
Down the stretch, the Canadiens will have the same number of games left in the season as the Coyotes with three. Both teams will finish Friday.
The Coyotes will start the final three games on the road against the playoffbound Minnesota Wild Tuesday. The Coyotes will then face two teams currently interlocked in the wild card race with the Dallas Stars on Wednesday and the Nashville Predators on Friday.
The Canadiens will play against teams that clinched the playoffs with the Boston Bruins on Sunday, followed by the New York Rangers on Wednesday, and the Florida Panthers on Friday.