UNDONE IN DETROIT
Coyotes can’t rally back from 3 early goals by Red Wings
DETROIT – Defenseman Mike Green had a goal and two assists and the Detroit Red Wings extended their winning streak to four games with a 6-1 victory over the Coyotes on Tuesday night.
Andreas Athanasiou added a goal and an assist for the third straight game, and Anthony Mantha, defenseman Dennis Cholowski, Michael Rasmussen and Luke Glendening also scored for Detroit, which has won seven of its last eight to get back to .500 (8-8-2) after a 1-7-2 start. Jimmy Howard made 24 saves.
The six goals are a season best for the Red Wings.
Lawson Crouse scored for Arizona. Darcy Kuemper stopped 12 shots and rookie Hunter Miska made eight saves in his NHL debut.
Detroit charged to a 3-0 in the first period.
Mantha opened the scoring with 9:47 left in the opening period, netting a wrist shot from the left circle off the rush. It was Mantha’s sixth goal and third in two games.
Cholowski made it 2-0 2:11 later on a wrist shot from the top of the right circle. Arizona challenged that Kuemper was interfered with by the Red Wings Justin Abdelkader at the edge of the crease, but the goal was upheld. It was Cholowski’s third goal.
Rasmussen made it 3-0 with a 5on-3 power-play goal with 2:38 remaining in the first. While on his knees in the crease, Rasmussen tipped in Dylan Larkin’s pass out of the right corner. It was Rasmussen’s third goal.
Glendening made it 4-0 with 8:28 left in the second period on a breakaway. It was Glendening’s second goal.
Arizona had an apparent goal 1:38 into the second period by Christian Fischer reversed. Detroit challenged that the play was offside going into the Red Wings zone, and replays showed that it was.
Athanasiou scored on a breakaway 1:44 into the third period when he picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone just after he came out of the penalty box. It was Athanasiou’s seventh goal.
That goal also sent Kuemper to the bench in favor of Miska.
Green got his first goal of the season 7:10 into the third.
Crouse spoiled Howard’s shutout bid with 8:39 left.
Coyotes sign Chychrun to extension
About an hour before Jakob Chychrun was scheduled to make his season debut in Detroit, the Coyotes announced that they signed the defenseman to a six-year contract extension on Tuesday.
The contract will pay Chychrun an average of $4.6 million per season. The 20-year-old Chychrun was drafted by the Coyotes with the 16th overall pick in the 2016 NHL draft.
“I’m thrilled to be with the Coyotes for the next six years,” Chychrun said in a press release Tuesday. “Arizona is where I want to be. I’m excited about our group moving forward and I can’t wait to be a big part of it.”
Chychrun underwent knee surgery in the offseason, which led the Coyotes to take it slow with his recovery to open this season. He appeared in just 50 games last season after recovering from a separate knee surgery the year before.
Chychrun has posted 11 goals, 23 assists and 34 points in 118 career games since his debut during the 2016-17 season.