Arizona Coyotes Fall 3-2 In Overtime To Detroit Red Wings

The Arizona Coyotes faced off against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night looking to extend a four game winning streak.

For the Arizona Coyotes, Thursday night was the best of times and it was the worst of times.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored his thirteenth of the season and Shane Doan got his sixteenth (!) as well. The first 50 minutes saw the Coyotes manhandling the Red Wings all around the ice, but things became a little more worrisome late.

Taking a 2-0 lead into the final ten minutes of regulation, the Coyotes suffered two costly penalties. Both resulted in goals for the Red Wings from Pavel Datsyuk and Gustav Nyquist, tying the game at 2-2 with a little more than five minutes left in the contest.

Heading into overtime, the Arizona Coyotes had a glorious opportunity as Max Domi hit Martin Hanzal in front of Petr Mrazek‘s net. Unfortunately Hanzal couldn’t drive it home.

With Detroit heading in the opposite direction, rookie Dylan Larkin took over and nearly beat Louis Domingue. Grabbing the puck after the near miss, he again mesmerized the defense and found Danny DeKeyser for the overtime game-winning goal.

Red Wings win 3-2.

Player Performance

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Antoine Vermette appeared to be on a one-man mission to throw this game away for the Arizona Coyotes. His penalty in the third period (and second penalty taken of the night) got the Red Wings scoring started, and beyond the penalties he was a disaster waiting to happen on the ice for large swathes of the game. A while back youngsters Anthony Duclair (benched for several shifts) and Connor Murphy (healthy scratched for a few games) were shown the error of their ways after similar fits of boneheaded play by head coach Dave Tippett. This is not Vermette’s first game like this during the 2015-16 season. Perhaps it’s time he takes a seat for a night, veteran status or no.

Louis Domingue had a very strong night until the penalty parade late in the third period. While I’m still very impressed with his play, it is alarming that Domingue’s shorthanded save percentage is just .821. He’s allowed 10 goals on just 56 shots. On the plus side, he’s lights out at even strength with a .946 save percentage. I have a feeling he’s gonna have a big game on Saturday afternoon.

Shane Doan scores another goal. Pretty amazing considering how gassed he was in that 3-on-3 against Edmonton the other night. I’m nine years younger and don’t think I could’ve recovered from that experience two days later. Four more goals and he’s at 20 yet again. Amazing.

Mikkel Boedker had an assist and six shots on net tonight. Seems like he really wants that big contract this offseason.

Arizona Coyotes Player of the Game

Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored his thirteenth goal of the season tonight. He’s a stalwart defensively. He’s on the power play. He’s here, he’s there, he’s everywhere!

Not sure what the team would do without him. He has three goals and four assists for seven points in his last five games. He’ll be sitting at home for the All-Star event, though.

The View From The 200 Level

The Arizona Coyotes gave that game away.

Regardless of your thoughts on the second goal and whether or not it was goaltender interference (hint: it was), the Coyotes have a nagging habit of taking penalties in bunches and tonight they did just that.

The unfortunate part was it was in the final ten minutes of the game and it ultimately cost them a point in the standings.

Beyond the penalty parade, this was a pretty good performance from top to bottom for about 56 of the 60 minutes in regulation. Almost only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades, however, and the loss allowed the San Jose Sharks to move a point closer to the Coyotes in the Pacific Division standings.

Next: The 10 Best Coyotes Goals From The First Half Of The Season

I’m sure there was bile in the throats of the Arizona Coyotes’ leadership after this one. They know they let this one slip away, and the hope is next time out they will correct the mistakes and take it out on New Jersey.

The Coyotes play the Devils at 12 PM on Saturday afternoon. Til then.