Coyotes beat Blackhawks at home behind 3 goal 3rd period
Mar 18, 2023, 10:23 PM | Updated: 10:23 pm
Juuso Valimaki #4 of the Arizona Coyotes celebrates with teammate Barrett Hayton #29 after scoring a goal against the Chicago Blackhawks during the third period at Mullett Arena on March 18, 2023 in Tempe, Arizona. Coyotes beat the Blackhawks 4-2. (Photo by Norm Hall/NHLI via Getty Images)
(Photo by Norm Hall/NHLI via Getty Images)
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Juuso Valimaki broke a tie with 3:12 left and the Arizona Coyotes beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 on Saturday night.
Valimaki also assisted on Arizona’s first two goals to help the Coyotes extend their points streak to eight games.
Clayton Keller scored his 32nd goal of the season to tie it six minutes into the third period. Keller also had two assists, giving him 43 for the season.
Barrett Hayton connected for Arizona in the second period, and Matias Maccelli scored into an empty net with 38.3 seconds to go.
Ivan Prosvetov, making his third start of the season, stopped 32 shots for Arizona to improve to 3-0. The Coyotes have won four straight, all at home, and are 20-11-3 at Mullett Arena.
The Blackhawks, though last in the Central Division, were coming off wins at home against league-leading Boston on Tuesday night and at Nashville on Thursday night.
Chicago took a 2-1 lead at 4:14 of the third on Caleb Jones’ power-play goal.
Chicago’s efforts to defuse the home-ice edge paid off quickly, as the Blackhawks scored 35 seconds into the game. Jujhar Khaira tipped in a shot by Jarred Tinordi for his fourth goal of the season. The Coyotes tied it with 2:12 left in the second period on Hayton’s 14th goal.
Alex Stalock made 17 saves for Chicago.
WELCOME TO THE CLUB
Chicago defenseman Wyatt Kaiser made his NHL debut Saturday night.
The 20-year-old signed a three-year entry-level contract earlier this week. A third-round pick in 2020, Kaiser played as a junior this season at Minnesota-Duluth.
ICE CHIPS
Blackhawks: LW Andreas Englund (hamstring) missed his sixth straight game. … RW Cole Guttman had right shoulder surgery earlier this week.
Coyotes: RW Nick Schmaltz returned after missing three games with an upper-body injury. … D Josh Brown missed his second straight game with an undisclosed injury. … G Karel Vejmelka didn’t dress for the game as Arizona wanted to get ice time for Prosvetov.
NEXT
Blackhawks: At Colorado Monday.
Coyotes: At Winnipeg Tuesday.
