Arizona Coyotes Survive Flyers 2-1 Behind Mike Smith’s Stellar Night
The Arizona Coyotes won a hard fought contest against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night. Despite the win, Shane Doan and Michael Stone both left the game with injuries.
The Arizona Coyotes survived an increasingly testy affair with the Philadelphia Flyers to put a dent in Philly’s playoff hopes on Saturday night.
Despite there being no clear rivalry between the two teams, there were plenty of words, shoves, and shots exchanged in the contest.
The first period was a bloodless affair. The two teams combined for just 11 shots and not much action to be seen.
The second saw the Coyotes finally get the scoring started.
Shane Doan cleaned up a rebound after an Antoine Vermette shot and put the Arizona Coyotes up 1-0.
Late in the second, controversy ensued when Michael Stone appeared to beat the buzzer and score a goal with 0.5 seconds left.
The NHL reviewed the time on the goal and then the Philadelphia Flyers challenged it for interference by Max Domi as well. Goal upheld. Coyotes took a 2-0 lead into the second.
In the third, things got a little nasty. Radko Gudas crosschecked Shane Doan and took him down and then followed up the hit with a hip check of Doan’s head into the boards. Doan got up a little woozy and went to the locker room under the concussion protocol.
Later in the period, Michael Stone got tangled up along the boards and went down injured. Stone was unable to put any weight on his leg and was taken immediately to the locker room.
Then, with the Flyers’ net empty, Martin Hanzal shoved Claude Giroux into the boards and injured the Flyers’ captain. Wayne Simmonds and several other Flyers rushed Hanzal and several penalties were doled out, yet somehow Simmonds did not receive an instigator.
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Sean Couturier scored with 40 seconds remaining in regulation, but it wasn’t enough.
The Arizona Coyotes hold on to win 2-1.
Arizona Coyotes Player of the Game
Mike Smith had another excellent night in net. The newly recovered goaltender stopped 34 of 35 shots and continued his lights out streak of performances.
Sign us up for 50+ games of this guy next year. No more up and downs, please.
The View From The 200 Level
The Arizona Coyotes eeked out a win against a Philadelphia Flyers team that was desperate to get a victory and maintain their slim hold on a playoff spot.
The Yotes were fairly lucky to walk out of this one the victor after being outshot 35-17 and really seeing the run of play go against them for the majority of the night.
Coyotes can’t expect to win often when being dominated like that, but tonight Mike Smith was once again on his game and nearly posted a shutout. One could argue it should’ve remained a shutout due to Simmonds deserving an instigator minor in the scrum after the Giroux hit, but it didn’t work out that way and Couturier got a garbage time goal.
Next: Coyotes Sign Prospect Defenseman Kyle Wood
The Yotes now prepare to face the Calgary Flames on Monday night at Gila River Arena.
It’s one of only two home games left for the 2015-16 version of the Arizona Coyotes.