Arizona Coyotes Fall 4-1 To Flames To End Time At Home

By Richard Flores | Jan 15, 2015

The Arizona Coyotes capped off their six game home stand with a 4-1 loss to Calgary on Thursday

This rang in their fourth straight defeat at the hands of the Calgary Flames this season.

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The Arizona Coyotes got off to a solid start, keeping the Flames off the board through one period while outshooting Calgary 11-9. They were able to keep Calgary at bay, so Mike Smith was never really tested in the first period — but that would change as the game went along.

Just a minute into the middle frame, Calgary’s Mikael Backlund took a shot from near the blueline that careened off Keith Yandle — and past Mike Smith — for the first goal of the game. Another oddity (and more bad luck for Arizona), as if you recall the game winner in the San Jose game came when a puck deflected off the skate of Zbynek Michalek.

The goal was yet another example of the Coyotes letting in the first goal of the game, although it was the first time this happened in three games — luckily, they would soon answer with a big final 18 minutes of the second period.

Jan 15, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Coyotes left wing Mikkel Boedker (89) skates with the puck during the first period against the Calgary Flames at Gila River Arena. The Flames won 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports

Mikkel Boedker continued his hot streak with a goal to tie it at one, earning himself his fourth goal in four straight games — a career high.

"“Its not worth talking about one person when you’re losing or when you’re winning,” Boedker said. “We are a team, and everyone has to contribute. It just happens to fall on my stick right now and go in the back of the net.”"

Boedker wasn’t the only player who had a hot hand in the second, though, as the Coyotes had multiple scoring chances throughout the period that they simply couldn’t bury.

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“I thought the difference was — we had two or three good scoring chances in the second when we could have pushed the game along a little bit, but didn’t capitalize… and we didn’t generate enough in the third,” head coach Dave Tippett said.

The Coyotes ended up outshooting Calgary once again in the second — by a massive 10-3 — but were unable to continue that momentum into the final twenty.

The Coyotes’ propensity to make mistakes in front of their goaltenders reared its ugly head once again in the third period.

The eventual game-winning goal came off a juicy rebound, with three unattended Flames crashing the net (including the shooter) and David Jones eventually tapping the puck home. Coach Tippett called out a couple players in the postgame for their mistakes on the goal.

"“Its people not doing their job,” Tippett said. “Lessio and Erat were puck watching, and Stone was late getting back.”"

Calgary went on to score twice more, including an empty netter to give them the 4-1 victory at Gila River Arena.

On a happier note, though, defenseman Philip Samuelsson made his debut for Arizona — and played quite well in his 18 minutes of ice time to the tune of an even +/-.

"“It felt pretty good,” Samuelsson said. “It’s nice having good linemen that are steady. That surely helps my confidence.”"

Despite the score, Mike Smith played well too — he made several huge saves in the third period, including two spectacular saves in a two minute time span, one with the glove and one with the pad. He ultimately fell in a 21 save losing effort.

Next up for the Arizona Coyotes is the start of a long road trip, which will coincide with both the All-Star break and the Super Bowl being hosted in Glendale. Up first? You guessed it — a matchup against old friend Devan Dubnyk and the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. Dubnyk earned his first win of the season with the Wild tonight, as his new franchise topped the Buffalo Sabres in an impressive 7-0 shutout with him in net.

Doggy biscuits:

–Dave Tippett on the possibility of more moves being made: “We’re going to look to do something for the future of the franchise. That’s probably the first move (in reference to the Devan Dubnyk trade) in moving some assets to improve the franchise.”

Our friends TSN — bringing us normally quite reliable hockey news from north of the border — may have had a little too much Moulson today. In a story earlier this afternoon, they traded Christian Dvorak for Leon Draisaitl, putting the two players alongside their new homes without a care in the world for the chaos that could have ensued. I have the screenshot to prove it.

Tweet of the game:

Papa John did not comment after the game.

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