Slumping Coyotes seek answer for Hurricanes

Once again, the Arizona Coyotes made a close game into an out of reach affair.

Exacerbated by a tough schedule and anemic offense, the Coyotes (2326-4) have now gone eight games without a win. Once in the thick of the wild card race, the Coyotes are 10 points away from the second spot.

The lone goal from Dylan Guenther in the first period injected momentum into the struggling Coyotes, but the Carolina Hurricanes soon answered with three goals to deliver a 5-1 loss to the Coyotes at Mullett Arena.

“The way we started the game was unfortunate. It’s not because we didn’t play well, we need to be more detailed and that’s on me,” head coach Andre Tourigny said.

Rough start, but better finish

Known for a faster style of play, it wasn’t going to be easy for the Coyotes to play at the Hurricanes’ pace. And Jordan Martinook made that clear when he disrupted goaltender Karel Vejmelka’s play behind the net and backhanded Brady Skjei’s pass into the net 16 seconds into the game.

The Hurricanes posted two goals on a 7-0 edge in shots.

But after Jalen Chatfield’s goal, the lack of offense curtailed as the Coyotes tested goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov with several chances. It was Guenther who brought the Coyotes back to life with a partial breakaway at 14:32 for his fifth goal in the 16 games he’s played since being called up from the minors.

Powering down

The chance to capitalize on the momentum from the end of the first period didn’t translate into the power play opportunity at the start of the second. Other than Lawson Crouse’s shot that rang off the crossbar when the power play expired, the Coyotes didn’t make a push.

It didn’t change much in the second power play of the period as the Coyotes went 0-for-2 and Kochetkov only needed to make one save.

In the Hurricanes zone, the Coyotes didn’t fare much better. Nick Schmaltz couldn’t handle the puck and made a poor play, giving way for Seth Jarvis to send his one-timer that put the Hurricanes up indefinitely at 6:28.

“They’re a tough team to play in the second because the way they put pressure and they don’t let you change,” Tourigny said. “That’s what happened on the third goal, we couldn’t change and we had a few turnovers in our zone and we were tired. We didn’t execute on the two times we could break out with the puck and Schmaltz couldn’t get it out and made it 3-1.”

Welcome to the NHL

Goaltender Matt Villalta was called up from the Tucson Roadrunners of the American Hockey League because of Connor Ingram’s lower-body injury suffered in Wednesday’s game. Ingram is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

Villalta, who has flourished in his first season with the Roadrunners with two shutouts and 22 wins, made his debut in the third period when Karel Vejmelka was pulled after giving up five goals.

“I felt pretty good to be honest and got a nice warmup before. Sitting for two-and-a-half periods, sometimes you get a little cold, but when the moment came, I said, ‘let’s get it going, I’m fired up,’” Villalta said. “I just try to give myself some mental cues to focus on and try to get a little sweaty as much as I could in the amount of time. Overall, I had a good feeling.”

Coming in cold, Villalta showed sharpness and saved four shots in over 13 minutes on the ice, including two on the power play, as the Coyotes defense slowed the game down.

“The 5-1 score was a good opportunity for him to get his feet wet a little bit and get a feel for the game,” Tourigny said. “He showed quickness and same thing in the morning skate today. He’s really quick and he did good in the timing.”