Worst downs first as Arizona Coyotes edge visiting Colorado Avalanche
Ross D. Franklin
The team with the lowest point total in the NHL took out the team with the most as the Arizona Coyotes rode a one-goal lead for most of the third period to a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche.
Karel Vejmelka made 42 saves Thursday for host Arizona. Forward Mikko Rantanen said he didn’t think the Avalanche played badly.
“We had some really good chances. We probably could have easily scored, on a good night, six goals tonight,” Rantanen said. “That’s hockey sometimes. Their goalie was making some good saves and we were not scoring.”
Arizona got off to a 2-13-2 start and hasn’t recovered, hovering at or near the bottom of the Western Conference all season. The Avalanche (40-11-4) have gone to a shootout with them twice, but hold a 2-1-1 record in the season series.
“They’ve played us hard and played us stingy in all the games that we’ve played them,” coach Jared Bednar said, throwing out a 5-0 Colorado win Jan. 15.
“Fine line between winning and losing tonight because I thought we played pretty good for a large portion of the game.”
Colorado’s Cale Makar sent a pass by the hovering stick of Nathan MacKinnon to defensive partner Devon Toews, who had a goal and two assists in his last outing. Toews saw Vejmelka was screened and made it 1-0 through traffic.
Makar has at least one assist in 10 straight games. That beat a franchise record for defensemen. The only skater in franchise history with more is his general manager, Joe Sakic, who had a 12-game assist streak in 1991-92.
Loui Eriksson tied the game with 1:49 remaining in the second period. Nick Schmaltz gave the Coyotes a 2-1 lead early in the third.
“Difference in the hockey game is we made a couple of defensive mistakes,” Bednar said. “They found the guy alone on the back door on the first goal with missed coverage by our forward down low. And then they get the odd-man rush and capitalize on that too.
“So I didn’t think we gave up a lot of scoring-chances-against of quality, but didn’t love a couple of those mistakes, and then they end up costing us.”
Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz made 27 saves.
Colorado’s top line was sent out to tie the game late. MacKinnon took a high stick off a faceoff, however, and he and Gabriel Landeskog headed down the tunnel early after scrapping with Coyotes. MacKinnon took on Dysin Mayo, the one who cut his face, while Landeskog tussled with Jakob Chychrun in the Arizona crease.
“Pretty hard high stick. He was bleeding, and then Nate got obviously mad about that,” Rantanen said. “They just went at it.”
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