Coyotes win in shootout to end Avs’ 18-game home winning streak

DENVER (AP) — Alex Galchenyuk was the only scorer in the shootout, and the Arizona Coyotes rallied to beat Colorado 3-2 on Tuesday night, snapping the Avalanche’s 18-game home winning streak.

Galchenyuk had a second-period goal and Lawson Crouse also scored for the Coyotes. Scott Wedgewood stopped 38 shots in regulation and overtime. He made a game-sealing save on Nazem Kadri on Colorado’s last shootout try.

“I was confident in myself. I think that’s one thing I’ve been working on,” Wedgewood said. “I need to go up against the best to prove I can be one of the best. So that’s one of those mantras.”

The Avalanche had won 10 in a row since an overtime loss in Nashville on Jan. 11. Two of those wins came against Arizona, including a shootout victory in Denver to start the 10-game winning streak.

Colorado is a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. The Coyotes are rebuilding, but they have played the Western Conference leaders tough this season.

“We mentioned many times this year that we have a group with a lot of pride, a lot of character and a lot of leadership,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. “The boys take pride in the way they play, the way they bounce back. They know the Avs are a really good team, they were on a roll. They arrived here with a lot of pride, they played with a lot of passion, and they battled all the way through.”

Darcy Kuemper had 22 saves, and Mikko Rantanen and Nazem Kadri scored for the Avalanche, who lost their first home game since Nov. 3 against Columbus. Their last regulation loss at home came on Oct. 26 against Vegas.

Colorado finished January 15-0-1, tying the NHL record for wins and points in a month. But, the Avs stumbled on the first day of February. The loss ended a run of success that dated to Nov. 6, when the Avalanche were 4-5-1. They are 28-4-2 since losing back-to-back games to the Blue Jackets.

Colorado went ahead on Kadri’s 19th goal of the season at 2:42 of the second period. Kadri is third in the NHL in scoring with 60 points, which is one shy of his career best for a season, set with Toronto in 2016-17.

Galchenyuk tied it with his first goal of the year 10 minutes later, and Rantanen put the Avalanche back in front with 42.7 seconds left in the second period. It was his 24th of the season.

His goal was his first with the Coyotes since April 6, 2019. He played for four different teams over the last two seasons before joining Arizona again in the offseason.

“I put in the work trying to find the game, put a lot of effort on my two-way game,” Galchenyuk said. “Over the last few games, my game’s really been building a lot, better and better, and I had a great opportunity tonight.”

Colorado had a chance to ice it, but Devon Toews hit the post late in the third. Wedgewood was pulled for an extra skater in the final two minutes and Crouse’s goal with 38 seconds left sent it to overtime.

LOOSE PUCKS

– Coyotes RW Phil Kessel played in his 944th consecutive game.

– Arizona LW Loui Eriksson and D Kyle Capobianco were scratched from the lineup.

UP NEXT

The Coyotes host the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.

Catch all the action on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.