Arizona Coyotes Overcome LA Kings 3-2 On Martinook’s Game Winner

The Arizona Coyotes snapped their four game losing streak by gutting out a win against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night. Shane Doan, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Jordan Martinook had the goals, while Louis Domingue made 26 saves in the victory.

The Arizona Coyotes went through a four game stretch where they couldn’t find the back of the net.

Facing the league’s second best team at preventing opposing goals, the Coyotes got on the board first for the first time in their seven game homestand.
Shane Doan scored in the first period on a redirection after Michael Stone‘s point shot went off his chest.

In the second period, a questionable no-call on Tanner Pearson‘s collision with Louis Domingue disrupted Domingue’s mask. The goaltender assumed the penalty for interference was going to be called and removed his mask to fix the straps, however Nick Shore continued the play and put the puck into the empty net.

Despite the Arizona Coyotes protestations, the goal stood.

The Coyotes got the goal right back after the refs gave the team a makeup call. Max Domi sauced a beautiful pass to Oliver Ekman-Larsson and the Coyotes’ star made no mistake as he blasted it past Jonathan Quick.

The Coyotes led 2-1.

Dustin Brown scored off a rebound from a Jeff Carter shot late in the 2nd period to tie the game back up at 2-2.

Then the magic happened.

Shane Doan launched a Hail Mary pass to Jordan Martinook. The forward caught the pass, put it on the ice and made the move to beat Quick with the backhand and give the Coyotes a 3-2 lead to kick off the third period.

The Coyotes and Louis Domingue held on for the final 19:38 of the third frame.

Arizona Coyotes win 3-2!

Player Performance

Shane Doan continues to score goals in a variety of ways. The puck luck is with the captain, and nothing could be greater evidence than his goal tonight coupled with his Hail Mary to Martinook. Doan is now just four points shy of tying the Arizona Coyotes franchise lead for points and five from breaking another of Dale Hawerchuk‘s records. Seems like a foregone conclusion at this point.

Mikkel Boedker had several primo chances tonight and could not convert any of them. His goal-less drought is now at 12 games. His hot and cold nature makes me nervous that he’s asking for more than $5,000,000 dollars per year. Then again, I’m sure someone out there will pay that price. I just don’t know that it will be the Coyotes or that it should be.

Jarred Tinordi got his first start with the Coyotes tonight, and what better team for a 6’6 bruiser to get into the lineup against than the LA Kings? He was on the ice for 15:39 and was credited with two hits and four blocks. More importantly, there were no egregious defensive lapses. I’d like to see him stay in.

Same with Kevin Connauton. I like him. That is all.

He had no points and nothing to show for it in the stat sheet, but it felt like Viktor Tikhonov was much more effective tonight on the wing than he was previously up the middle of the ice.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson…fourteen goals already this season. What a player.

Tonight, Louis Domingue gave up a goal that had some people comparing it to Mark Sanchez’s butt fumble. The difference between Sanchez and Domingue, though, is that Domingue was able to shake that bad goal off and backstop the Arizona Coyotes admirably through the final thirty minutes. Louis had some huge saves in the third period that maintained the Yotes lead. He’s young, he’ll make mistakes, but most importantly it appears he has the mental fortitude that Mike Smith lacks.

Arizona Coyotes Player of the Game

Jordan Martinook has hustled his ass off for the Coyotes all season. He’s scored just five goals, but the one he netted tonight was an all-timer for his memory bank. His line with Richardson and Doan have been producing well of late, so it was nice to see #48 get rewarded tonight.

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The View From The 200 Level

The Arizona Coyotes had a first period for the ages against the league’s best possession team. They held the Kings to just three shots on net in the frame, and came out of that period with a 1-0 lead.

They were able to ride that early momentum just enough to squeak out the win.

The kerfuffle/mistake/confusion surrounding Nick Shore’s goal felt like a back breaker, but Louis Domingue shook it off and was able to turn in another solid performance in net. He stopped 26 of the 28 shots he faced for a .929 save percentage.

The Martinook and Doan line centered by Brad Richardson keeps putting up the points and making it hard on opponents. The Corsi-differential tonight for the forwards paints a different picture than how it appears on the ice, however. In this case, I’m quite content to ignore the advanced stats and let this line continue to work.

Klas Dahlbeck and Nicklas Grossmann can sit for another game or two in my opinion. I’d like to see what the team has with Tinordi and Connauton getting an extended look, or at the very least see them get one of the two games on the back-to-back Monday and Tuesday night.

Next: Every Goalie Mask In Coyotes' History

This win was huge for the Coyotes as they head into the final two games before the All-Star break.

They continue to get quality starts from Louis Domingue, and were also able to get production out of their power play and penalty kill units in the same game for the first time in a while.

By winning tonight, the Coyotes also leapfrogged the Vancouver Canucks for third place in the Pacific Division because they still have two games in hand over the Canucks.

The Arizona Coyotes next face the Minnesota Wild on Monday night in the first of a back-to-back that includes a matchup against Winnipeg.