Coyotes take control early, pick up key win
When last the Arizona Coyotes visited the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the Coyotes had won three straight games and were 20 minutes away from their longest wining streak of the season. That was April 7, and Arizona gave up three unanswered goals in the third period to lose the game.
That loss was also the first of what was seven losses in eight games going into Saturday night. The Coyotes, faced with a two-goal lead going into the third period in Los Angeles once again, finished the job this time with a 4-0 win.
John Hayden, Lawson Crouse, Jakob Chychrun and Phil Kessel scored goals and Alex Goligoski assisted on two of them, and Darcy Kuemper stopped 26 Kings' shots with plenty of help from the defensemen in front of him in limiting looks. The Coyotes won for just the second time since that April 7 heartbreaker.
More importantly, the Coyotes (2122-5) remained in fourth place in the West Division on 47 points and stayed ahead of the St. Louis Blues by a single point, after St. Louis defeated Colorado earlier in the day. The win also moved the Coyotes six points up on the sixthplace San Jose Sharks and seven over the seventh-place Kings.
Hayden's first goal in 23 games this season as a Coyote and first since March of 2020, when he was with the New Jersey Devils, opened the scoring with 7:13 left in the first period.
Derick Brassard got an assist on the play, and collected his 500th career NHL point, accomplished in 897 career games.
"We had to have this game and it was a nice effort from the guys," Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet said, admitting that he watched the Avalanche-Blues game in its entirety earlier in the day.
"Stuck to the game plan. Didn't give them much. But I think everybody kind of showed up."
The Coyotes held the Kings to six shots on goal in the first period, and got
the second off to a good start.
Crouse knocked down Alex Goligoski's shot with his stick and past Kings goalie Cal Petersen 36 seconds into the second.
For Crouse it was only his fourth goal of the season, but for Goligoski, the assist gave the defenseman 14 points over his last 16 games.
The Kings had a power play late in the second period, and Kuemper stopped two shots with a shot blocked by forward Christian Fischer, who despite in obvious pain stayed on the ice to finish his shift while the Kings had possession of the puck.
Kuemper logged his second shutout of the season and 20th of his career.
"The little things really matter, and that's a really big blocked shot," Tocchet said.
As for Kuemper, Tocchet said he saw the pucks well and was solid, and the team played well in front of him.
The Coyotes made sure there would be no collapse this time, with two third period goals. Chychrun zipped his 14th goals of the season past Petersen for a 3-0 lead and the top spot in the NHL among goals for a defenseman, and Kessel swooped in for a turnover and scored with a shot high into the net with just over seven minutes to play in the game.
"That's my plan half the time when I'm playing with 'Chych,' is finding ways to get him the puck with space. He's got a world class shot," Goligoski said.
Three stars
Third star: Goligoski, who said this: Second star: Kessel, with a goal and assist. His 17 goals and 37 points lead the Coyotes.
First star: Kuemper. Didn't have to work a ton but still made big saves. With Antti Raanta not available Saturday night due to what is being called an upper body injury that Tocchet said he hopes isn't major, Kuemper could get his fifth straight start Monday in San Jose. Adin Hill was Saturday's backup and should be available if called upon.
Goal of the game
Brassard has been an alternate captain this season, and showed accountability in telling Tocchet that he was in need of a reset after some recent games in which Brassard was dissatisfied with his own performance. So Brassard was scratched three times in the previous five games.
Injuries to forwards Tyler Pitlick and Conor Garland, however, got Brassard and Hayden into the lineup, and the two combined for the Coyotes' first goal of the game.
'Toc' talk
Tocchet, on Hayden, who this season has been known more for fights and physical play but showed skill with his goal:
Coyotes Faceoff
This week's guest on Coyotes Faceoff was forward Dryden Hunt, who's drawn praise for his play several times this season. The conversation took place from a busy Gila River Arena, where COVID vaccines are now being administered.