Arizona Coyotes move up in playoff race with win over Pittsburgh Penguins

Although it was a dismal start to the month, the Arizona Coyotes have flipped the momentum around with two big wins in the last two home games of January.

Following Saturday’s 3-2 over the Nashville Predators, the Coyotes had a strong start against the Pittsburgh Penguins and stayed consistent in a 5-2 win at Mullett Arena on Monday. The Coyotes snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Penguins that dated back to Feb. 11, 2017.

The win marked the last home game for the Coyotes until Feb. 8, as they next embark on a three-game road trip followed by the All-Star break and bye week. The Coyotes (23-19-3) now are two points behind the Predators for the second wild card spot.

“It was a huge game for us, obviously coming off the win against Nashville,” forward Jason Zucker said. “These games are huge for us in this playoff race heading into the bye week. We had to make sure we were still dialed in and tonight was a great step in that direction.”

Starting strong

The Coyotes once again celebrated first in the game, thanks in part to Logan Cooley’s swift pass in the corner to Zucker, whose quick release caught Penguins' netminder Tristan Jarry off balance at 2:23 in the first.

Clayton Keller took a puck to the face in the first minute of action and exited. His absence was short-lived and he returned for his next shift. Center Nick Schmaltz remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury, which has caused Keller to log more minutes on the ice. Against the Penguins, Keller recorded 22 minutes with one shot and one assist.

Finding a response

Both teams came out opportunistic in the second period and tied the game twice. The Penguins quickly got to work when Lars Eller jammed the puck into the net from Pierre-Olivier Joseph at 4:50.

Despite not generating many chances on the power play, the Coyotes didn’t quit in the Penguins’ zone. Keller moved over to a playmaking role and fed defenseman Juuso Valimaki up the slot for a 2-1 lead at 11:04 in the second.

Valimaki was in the lineup for the first time since Jan. 7 after being a healthy scratch for the last six games.

“You can probably see a little bit on the celly (celebration) there, but it felt pretty good. It’s been too long since the last one, so it just opened things up for me, to be honest,” Valimaki said.

The Penguins weren’t finished responding and as a penalty kill expired for the Coyotes, Sidney Crosby tapped in Erik Karlsson’s shot from the point to tie the game at 16:30 in the second.

Less than two minutes later, Alex Kerfoot moved through several Penguins defenders behind the goal and pocketed the loose puck into the net for a 3-2 lead at 18:01.

Snafu at the net

The combination of Penguins forwards Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin has brought fear to opponents for many years, but for the Coyotes, the two did the damage to their own team. The Penguins pulled Jarry during a delayed penalty on the Coyotes power play in the third, making it a 5-on-5 matchup. With Lawson Crouse pressuring on the forecheck, Malkin’s pass over to Letang by the empty net then was deflected in for a 4-2 lead at 4:10.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Coyotes move up in playoff race in win over Pittsburgh Penguins