Coyotes tie NHL record with 11th straight loss to start season

NEWARK, N.J. — Louis Domingue picked out the last thing left in his locker, a hanger, and threw it forcefully into his equipment bag. The move felt symbolic for the embattled Coyotes goalie, who may have played his last game in Arizona for a while, or ever, following a trade earlier Saturday for Devils prospect Scott Wedgewood.

Domingue’s act of frustration was also a reminder of the emotional wreckage the start of this season is having on a group of players who have not stopped fighting.

It didn’t matter to the Coyotes that they had played well at Prudential Center on Saturday. It didn’t matter that they were a better team than the New Jersey Devils. Two costly penalties and two third-period power-play goals from the Devils were the facts that mattered in a 4-3 New Jersey win.

The Coyotes (0-10-1) have matched the 1943-44 New York Rangers for the longest losing streak to start a season and they are fresh out of deep analyses to explain that fact.

“In situations like this you can’t just give up,” said forward Brendan Perlini, who scored his first goal of the season. “You have to work even harder and get even better.”

Saturday’s game started inauspiciously for Arizona. Christian Fischer buried the rebound of Christian Dvorak’s shot from the left wing to stake the Coyotes to a 1-0 lead at 10:37 of the first period, but a familiar demon surfaced soon afterward.

With New Jersey’s Pavel Zacha in the box for slashing and the Coyotes on a second power play, forward Clayton Keller sent a soft and half-blind pass across the blue line to Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Devils forward Brian Gibbons picked it off with a head of steam, raced in on a breakaway and Ekman-Larsson was forced to hook him.

Gibbons scored on the ensuing penalty shot to tie the game 1-1 at 11:55. It marked the 11th time this season the Coyotes have allowed an opponent to score within two minutes of scoring themselves, maintaining their average of one per game.

New Jersey took a 2-1 lead at 11:09 of the second period when Coyotes defenseman Kevin Connauton turned the puck over behind his net and Devils forward Jesper Bratt intercepted it, feeding Taylor Hall streaking down the left side for a one-timer past Domingue.

That’s when the Coyotes flipped their own script, scoring 48 seconds later on Perlini’s high wrist shot past goalie Cory Schneider through a Dalton Prout screen to tie the game at 2-2.

Domingue made a big right pad save on Drew Stafford with about six minutes left, and Keller dazzled the crowd with a spectacular goal at 15:13 of the second period that gave the Coyotes a 3-2 lead after two periods.

With fellow rookie and 2017 No. 1 overall pick Nico Hischier starting the breakout, Keller lifted Hischier’s stick, stole the puck, went in alone on Schneider and beat the Devils goalie between the pads.

The Coyotes had a lead heading into the third period and they were feeling good.

“That was the best second period that we played all year,” Keller said. “We were in their zone the whole [period].”

The good feelings evaporated quickly. New Jersey tied the game 11 seconds into a third-period power play when Adam Henrique slipped a pass behind his back to Hall for Hall’s second goal of the game at 4:30 of the third period.

Late in the third, Fischer came to the defense of Ekman-Larsson after Blake Coleman hit the Coyotes defenseman hard along the boards, sending him to the dressing room in the league’s concussion protocol. Fischer was assessed a roughing penalty, Jesper Bratt scored 21 seconds into that power play for a 4-3 lead at 15:47 and the Coyotes found themselves in an all too familiar place.

“They played great,” coach Rick Tocchet said. “I really feel bad for the guys. They deserved to win. We’ve said that about six, seven times this year, the stats and all that stuff. We’ve just got to band together.

“The one thing that they’ve given me is energy the next day. This was a tough one. I’ve got to give them a day off tomorrow and just let them relax.”

Follow @craigsmorgan