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Arizona Coyotes vs L.A. Kings final score 3-2: Coyotes triumph in OT

By Catherine Silverman

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Arizona Coyotes bring home the first season win with a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings

The Arizona Coyotes may have started off the season on the wrong foot, but they righted things rather quickly with a victory over the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Despite the Kings getting on the board early on with a goal at the 1:32 mark in the first period, things quickly went downhill for the Pacific Division powerhouse. They would go on to score only one more goal before being outshot and outplayed; the Coyotes would return to the game with three unanswered goals for the eventual victory.

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    • Interestingly enough, the players who looked the most concerning in the first game were the ones who brought the win home in the end. Oliver Ekman-Larsson recovered from a disastrous first game to eventually score the game-winning goal on Saturday night, and Keith Yandle fixed his puck possession problem by pitching in with assists on all three goals for his team.

    OEL and Yandle weren’t alone with their impressive play, though. The entire team seemed to come together at long last, outshooting the Kings 40-27 and skating away from the game with a 13-1 takeaway rate. The team doubled the Kings’ blocked shots for the night, and managed to avoid the flurry of unnecessary penalties from the Thursday night season opener- this game would only see the Coyotes sit for ten minutes in the penalty box overall.

    In comparison, the Kings continued to lack cohesion as a group, with the only goals of the night coming when the team’s seventies line- Tanner Pearson, Jeff Carter, and Tyler Toffoli- were on the ice.

    This time around, faceoffs weren’t the Kings’ issue. The team actually won the majority of the puck drops. Instead, the franchise had a puck possession problem- the Coyotes were able to easily take control of plays time and time again, and the majority of the game seemed to be spent down on Kings ice.

    Mike Smith sat the second game of the season out, as Coyotes backup netminder Devan Dubnyk would play the entire game. The six-foot-six former Edmonton goalie withstood everything the Kings threw his way, including a near game-winning goal by the Kings towards the end of the third period.

    The game seemed certain to go into a shootout until Tyler Toffoli got called for hooking towards the end of regulation overtime. It was on this final power play that the Coyotes managed to set up a perfect shot, reminding hockey fans why the team had one of the most effective power plays in the Western Conference last season. Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored his first goal of the season, assisted by both Yandle and Antoine Vermette, to bring home the win.

    In addition to assisting on the final power play goal, Vermette scored a PPG of his own in the final minute of the first period. The team’s second goal was credited to Mikkel Boedker, bringing him up to two goals in two games. The team will play next on Wednesday, October 15th, against the Edmonton Oilers.

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