Eighteen games into the season and the Arizona Coyotes have been competitive, going 8-8-2 and right in the thick of things. After a tough five-game road trip where the Coyotes went 2-2-1, the team was certainly looking to get back to the desert and face the L.A. Kings. This was their third meeting of the season, with the Coyotes losing the first two matchups.
Coming off of long road trips, teams often struggle in their first game back home and, unfortunately, the Coyotes followed this pattern as they were thoroughly outmatched in a 4-1 loss. Goal recap, three stars, and highlights below:
1st Period:
Trevor Moore (shorthanded); Assisted by: Danault; 3:36 (1-0 LAK)
Anze Kopitar; Assisted by: Byfield; 8:20 (2-0 LAK)
2nd Period:
Trevor Moore; Unassisted; 15:31 (3-0 LAK)
Lawson Crouse; Assisted by Bjugstad & Maccelli; 18:55 (3-1 LAK)
3rd Period:
Phillip Danault; Assisted by Laferriere & Roy; 16:15 (4-1 LAK)
3 Stars:
1st Star – Trevor Moore C – LA
2nd Star – Pheonix Copley G – LA
3rd Star – Phillip Danault C – LA
Highlights:
- The first goal of the game was a shorty for the Kings that resulted from a bad turnover on a power play. It was also the first shorthanded goal of the year for L.A.
- The last time Ingram started against the Kings, he got smoked and was pulled early. He fared better here but the team was just overmatched.
- The Kings kept up the pressure in the offensive zone and drew the defenders in. That left their captain Kopitar wide open for the second goal of the game.
- Both Zucker and Schmaltz had breakaways, and neither could finish. Zucker was stopped by Copley and Schmaltz missed.
- A really bad defensive turnover by Maccelli left Ingram with no chance on the third straight goal for the Kings, this time by Moore.
- Danault puts it past Ingram late in the third period and the Kings take a 4-1 lead.
- Josh Brown of the Coyotes and Andreas Englund of the Kings got into a pretty good scrap near the end of the first period. Surprisingly, the refs let them throw some good punches before breaking it up.