Coyotes close homestand with 5-2 record after win over Senators
Mar 3, 2018, 9:52 PM | Updated: Mar 5, 2018, 12:04 pm
Arizona Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson (23) celebrates his goal against the Ottawa Senators with center Derek Stepan (21) and left wing Brendan Perlini, left, during the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, March 3, 2018, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
GLENDALE, Ariz. — On New Year’s Eve, the Coyotes fell to 9-27-5; 18 games below NHL .500 and deepest in the well of NHL Draft Lottery hopefuls.
Former coach Dave Tippett always cautioned that wins without the pressure of winning were not the fairest measure of a team, so it is instructive to view the Coyotes’ 2018 success through that lens.
That said, the team that has taken the ice the past eight weeks bears little resemblance to the youth-challenged, injury-riddled, road-fatigued, system-learning, fresh-faced club that departed 2017 with a gigabyte of resolutions.
Antti Raanta made 23 saves and Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Jordan Martinook scored as the Coyotes rallied for a 2-1 win over the Ottawa Senators at Gila River Arena on Saturday.
The win left the Coyotes 5-2-0 on their completed seven-game homestand, 11-7-5 since the new year dawned and 8-2-1 in their past 11 games.
“Even the Vancouver game we lost, I thought we deserved better,” Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. “When you play at home, you’ve got to be hard to play against and I think we’ve established a work ethic here. We’ve got a long ways to go, but the one thing we’ve established is that this team will work.”
Jean-Gabriel Pageau gave the Senators a 1-0 lead at 3:24 of the first period when he redirected Bobby Ryan’s pass from the left face-off circle past Raanta.
Ekman-Larsson tied it 1-1 at 18:46 with a wrist shot from the right face-off circle. Derek Stepan had an assist on Ekman-Larsson’s goal for his 400th NHL point. Brendan Perlini created a perfect screen by moving across Condon’s line of vision just as Ekman-Larsson shot.
“I was going high and I fanned on it a little bit,” said Ekman-Larsson, who has seven points (one goal, six assists) in his past seven games. “Everybody is doing the little things and that’s why we’re winning hockey games now. It’s a game of details and everybody is chipping in.”
The Coyotes’ fourth line got rewarded for two months worth of strong defensive play against other teams’ top talent when Martinook made it 2-1 at 14:08 of the second period. Brad Richardson slipped a backhand pass from behind the net through Pageau’s skates to Martinook standing alone in front of the net, and he snapped the puck into the far side.
“We’re getting a lot of trust from Toc in all situations,” said Martinook, who has goals in back-to-back games after scoring an empty-netter against Minnesota on Thursday. “We’re all playing with quite a bit of confidence, maybe not as much offensively, but I think we’re feeling really good about our game right now with matchups and all the extra ice time.”
The Coyotes swept the two-game season series from the Senators, the first time they have swept a multiple-game season series from Ottawa since moving to Arizona in 1996. The Coyotes beat the Senators 3-2 in overtime at Canadian Tire Centre on Nov. 18.
Following the game, Raanta was given a Hockey Night in Canada towel after his postgame interview. He said he intends to give it to a friend who has a hockey man cave. Raanta is more focused on keeping this run rolling as the Coyotes hit the road for a three-game trip through Edmonton, Vancouver and Denver.
“We need to take this confidence we’ve been building at home,” he said. “We just need to recharge, refocus, go and play the game like we have been playing the last couple months already.
“Everything is under control and everybody is doing the right things.”
