Arizona Coyotes Come Out on Fire Against Champion Blues, Win 3 to 1
The Arizona Coyotes were fired up and determined not to be embarrassed by the defending champions at Gila River Arena. It showed, and they weren’t.
The Coyotes came out a-blazin’ and leaning forward on their skates right from the get-go on Tuesday night at GRA.
Their aggressive, disciplined effort and decision to play “fast” and avoid the heavy, punishing hits of the St. Louis Blues’ ultimately resulted in several promising offensive flurries throughout the game, but the Coyotes could only muster a Conor Garland power-play goal through two periods.
The Blues tied it up later in the first period with the Blues’ goal resulting from an ill-advised cross-ice pass attempted by defender Ilya Lyubushkin. The puck never left the Coyotes’ “D” zone, however, until the champs knotted the game at one goal apiece with a goal by Tyler Bozak.
Undisciplined play in the ‘Yotes’ “D” zone resulted in a few power-play opportunities for St. Louis in the second period, including a 5 on 3 chance for nearly 2 minutes. Antti Raanta was able to close the door on the Blues, however, with the aid of some aggressive PK work by the Coyotes.
Both teams seemed to alternate between free-wheeling helter-skelter type play and more disciplined, structured hockey.
In the third period, the Coyotes were able to take control of a bouncing and mishandled puck, and Phil Kessel took advantage of the situation by clanging a shot off the post to the goalkeeper’s left and into the net for his 9th goal of the season.
The Coyotes were under tremendous pressure in the last five minutes of the game, and the Blues used their size and weight advantage to pummel the ‘Yotes against the boards every chance they got. The blistering desert dogs had to kill a late-game penalty, and kill it they did due to the stalwart and athletic play of goalkeeper Antti Raanta. Nick Schmaltz got an empty net insurance goal after the Blues pulled netminder Jake Allen.
The Coyotes rose to the occasion at GRA on New Year’s Eve and were able to handle everything that the Blues threw at them. They took a physical beating throughout, however, and it was evident that bigger, heavier teams will routinely be using their size to try to intimidate the ‘Yotes for the remainder of the season.
Although there were some defensive lapses and silly penalties in this contest, the Coyotes were able to prevail due to an impressive team effort in a tense, physical, and high-pressure game at home.
Happy New Year! Let’s go Coyotes!