Coyotes cruise to win over Flyers
It was starting to get a little ridiculous.
After dropping the opening contest in a four-game homestand, the Coyotes fell to 8-11-1 on home ice. With three games left in their stay at Gila River Arena, the Coyotes knew they needed to make a statement.
And they did, responding from the aforementioned loss to win all three games to close out the homestand, the latest being a decisive 6-2 win over the Philadelphia
Flyers on Saturday at Gila River Arena.
The Coyotes sold out two games on the homestand, including Saturday’s contest. The Coyotes have already sold out six games this season, which equals their total from last season.
Three goals in the first period helped propel the Coyotes to a statement win to bring their winning percentage at home above .500 for the season.
The Coyotes broke through at 12:33 when center Brad Richardson scored his third of the season on a puck that took a weird bounce and found its way past Flyers goaltender Carter Hart.
Coyotes defenseman Jordan Oesterle got his first goal of the season on a shot from the point that caromed off a Flyers defenseman and past Hart for a two-goal lead at 13:30 of the opening frame.
The Coyotes closed out a dominant first period with a power-play goal courtesy of Clayton Keller, who scored his 11th of the season at 16:15. Taylor Hall found Keller for a one-timer, and although Keller didn’t get all of the shot, the puck still slid under Hart’s pads.
Hart was removed from the game in favor of Brian Elliott after Keller’s goal.
It looked as though neither team was going to score in the second period, but
Coyotes forward Lawson Crouse connected with a backhander that beat Elliott with just just 1 second left on the clock for the middle frame.
Flyers forward Tyler Pitlick got Philadelphia on the board early in the third period, but Coyotes winger Clayton Keller scored his second of the game at 4:27 of the final frame. Flyers defenseman Justin Braun made it 5-2 at 8:46 of the third and Coyotes center Derek Stepan restored the Coyotes’ four-goal lead with an empty-netter in the final minutes.
The wins also helped the Coyotes (52 points) keep pace in the Pacific Division. At the conclusion of the Coyotes’ game on Saturday, the Vegas Golden Knights (54) had won four straight and the Vancouver Canucks (48) had won six straight. Not to mention the Edmonton Oilers (49) and Calgary Flames (47) are sticking around in the race.
The Coyotes now take off for a threegame road trip against the Florida Panthers (Tuesday) Tampa Bay Lightning (Thursday) and Carolina Hurricanes (Friday). All three teams could make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference.
Raanta injured
Coyotes goaltender Antti Raanta was removed from Saturday’s game with a lower-body injury, the Coyotes announced during the third period.
Raanta, making his seventh consecutive start in relief of an injured Darcy Kuemper, did not appear after the second intermission.
Raanta has been injured multiple times already in his Coyotes career, although the severity of his current ailment was not immediately known.
Entering play Saturday, Raanta had an 8-8-2 record to go along with a 2.76 goals against average and a .918 save percentage. He did not allow a goal in his 40 minutes of work against the Flyers.
Raanta’s career .920 save percentage was tied for the fifth-best in NHL history among goaltenders with a minimum of 100 games played.
Richard Morin covers the Coyotes and Diamondbacks for azcentral sports. He can be reached at rmorin@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @ramorin_azc.