Arizona Coyotes remain winless after falling to Boston Bruins

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Two days after playing what was perhaps their best game of the young season in a contest against the Detroit Red Wings, the Coyotes were dealt a tough loss at home to the Boston Bruins on Saturday, 6-2.

The Coyotes (0-4-1) remain winless to start the year.

“The first period was pretty good too,” head coach Rick Tocchet said, alluding to his team’s competitive outing the game before. “We had a 1-0 lead, they come right back and score. And then in the second period, it was chaos. And that’s my fault. I thought I had them ready to go.

“I’m embarrassed, I apologize to the fans on this one because that second period was not good.”

The Coyotes scored the game’s first goal, doing so for the fourth time in their five games this season. This time, it was Mario Kempe, who deflected a hard shot by Anthony Duclair taken from the top of the right circle.

Kempe’s goal was the first of his NHL career, and it was 1-0 Arizona at 15:31 in the first.

But the Bruins answered right back, as just 36 seconds later, David Pastrnak scored for Boston to knot things up 1-1.

Two goals from Boston in the beginning stages of the second period quickly made it 3-1, the first from Jake DeBrusk on a deflection (1:39) and the second from Zdeno Chara in front (5:03). The Coyotes, leading in shots on goal, were in search of a comeback.

Instead, Boston left wing Brad Marchand found himself all alone on a breakaway toward Domingue, and sent the puck off the roof of the goal at 16:21 in the second to make it 4-1 Boston.

Are you kidding me with this finish, Marchand?!! 4-1 #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/VCuZ6lCAKf

— Boston Pucks (@BostonPucks) October 15, 2017

“I don’t know why we can (play well) for certain parts of the game. The system looks good, and then all of a sudden, it doesn’t,” Tocchet said. “When pressure hits this team, for some reason, adversity, they just forget where to go and they just start running around. That’s the dumbfounded thing for me — I don’t understand that.”

In the third period, Oliver Ekman-Larsson put one home at 16:25 to cut the Coyotes’ deficit to 4-2. But, yet again, Boston answered right back — this time from Tim Schaller, 23 seconds after the goal by Ekman-Larsson.

From there, a goal by Anders Bjork added a sixth Boston goal for good measure, the final tally of the game to make it 6-2 Boston.

THE GOOD

–In the first period, the Coyotes pressured the Bruins and were the speedier team for much of the opening portion of the game. Even after killing a power play, Arizona led shots on goal 5-2 at the 6:50 mark in the game and 10-8 after a period.

–Ekman-Larsson’s third-period tally was the 41st power play goal of his career, giving him the all-time franchise lead in that category.

–The Coyotes led shots on goal, 31 to 29.

THE BAD

–The Coyotes have led in four of the five games they’ve played. Their one game without a lead was the Vegas Golden Knights’ own home opener at T-Mobile Arena.

–Domingue stopped 23 of the 29 shots he faced, filling in as the starter while Antti Raanta recovers from a lower-body injury. His save percentage on the year has fallen to .862 through four games (three starts).

HE SAID IT

“I don’t have much a message, really,” Domingue said. “I don’t have an explanation for the how the team plays. It’s not my job to wonder what we do good or bad — I’ve just got to be better. It’s just me. Focus on getting better, and that’s it.”

LOOSE PUCKS

–The Bruins were without top-line center Patrice Bergeron (lower-body) on Saturday.

–Anton Khudobin was in net for Boston with Tuukka Rask as the backup. Khudobin stopped 29 of the 31 shots he saw.

–In the next game he plays, Ekman-Larsson will play his 500th game, becoming the sixth defenseman in franchise history to do so.

UP NEXT

The Coyotes play again on Tuesday in Dallas where they’ll see their former center, Martin Hanzal. The Stars (2-3-0) will then come right back to Arizona for a contest on Thursday before the ‘Yotes are tasked with hosting the Chicago Blackhawks (4-1-1) on Oct. 21.

Puck drop for Tuesday’s game is slated for 5:30 p.m. on ESPN 620 AM.

Follow @mattjlayman