Arizona Coyotes scored four unanswered in comeback win vs. Ottawa Senators
Things took a turn for the worse early for the Arizona Coyotes Tuesday night, but as the game went on, the team only got stronger.
Goaltender Karel Vejmelka relieved Connor Ingram after he surrendered three goals early in the first period, and from there, the Coyotes (16-13-2) outplayed the Ottawa Senators, scoring four unanswered goals for a 4-3 win at Mullett Arena.
Defenseman Michael Kesselring was credited with the game-winning goal after his shot from the right side was deflected into Senators' defenseman Travis Hamonic's skate and then into the goal at 16:27 in the third period.
“It’s a pretty significant game for us to know that even if we don’t come out well, if we get a couple of goals a little early and find ourselves in a tough spot, we can crawl back and we did a great job of that slowly in getting more momentum and cashing in during the third,” defenseman J.J. Moser said.
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The slumping Senators lost their fifth straight, playing the first game under interim head coach Jacques Martin, who replaced the fired D.J. Smith earlier in the five-game road trip. The coaching change presented a challenge for the Coyotes as the coaching staff was unsure of what the Senators would look like under a new direction.
“You’re playing a second-guessing game in a sense. What will they change? What will we change?” head coach André Tourigny said. “I think they were pretty well-coached before and were well-structured, so we didn’t really know what they would do, so let’s focus on us. We knew they would come out with energy and in the first faceoff, they were pushing hard.”
Jakob Chychrun, who played for the Coyotes for seven years from 2016 to 2023, returned in his first game since being traded last season.
Making adjustments in net
Ingram had a rare off night in net after allowing three goals on six shots in 14 minutes.
The Coyotes applied pressure throughout the first period, but the Senators were able to get Ingram down early with two tip-in goals. Right wing Angus Crookshank scored at 4:10 off tip-in of Artem Zub’s shot for his first career NHL goal.
Usually sharp on the power play, the Coyotes penalty kill unit surrendered a slap shot from Josh Norris seven seconds in for a two-goal deficit.
Domink Kubalik’s deceptive backhand in front of Ingram from Erik Brannstrom’s feed pushed Tourigny to bring in Vejmelka.
“I don’t think they had the same quality of chances than they had early on," Tourigny said. "That’s nothing against Ingy, it wasn’t that he wasn’t playing well, I thought we tried to get a spark at something, so Vej came in. They will have waves. Veggie has played well in the last two games, so we’ll see what’s ahead of us. We need to stay level and even-keeled.”
Even strength reigns
Although it was a physical game, the Coyotes didn’t get a power play goal on its two opportunities. However, on even strength, the Coyotes excelled and eventually broke through goaltender Joonas Korpisalo.
Michael Carcone, Jack McBain and Logan Cooley carried over the momentum from an expired power play in the second period with Carcone managing the puck behind the net to set up a passing play with McBain finishing Cooley’s pass.
The Coyotes whittled away a three-goal deficit to a tie game on back-to-back strong shifts in the Senators zone during the third period. Moser tapped in a deflection from Matias Maccelli for a 3-2 deficit, and 33 seconds later, Clayton Keller tied the game.
“When Bainer broke the ice, we all had the feeling that it’s not over. I don’t know if we had the feeling we would make it, but we’re still in it,” Tourigny said.
Defense stepping up
The Coyotes limited the Senators to three shots on goal for nearly the entirety of the third period, while registering six blocked shots. Only when Korpisalo was pulled did the Senators make a push with three shots in the final minute, but Vejmelka and the defense were able to hold on.
After taking the last three games at home, the Coyotes will head to San Jose and Colorado on Thursday and Saturday for the final games before the holiday break.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Coyotes score four unanswered goals in win vs. Ottawa Senators
