Tuesday 26 January 2016

NHL - Phoenix Coyotes @ Minnesota Wild 2-1 SO - Monday, January 25, 2016


Louis Domingue walked into the dressing room and let out a sigh of relief. It certainly wasn't how they drew it up, but the Coyotes escaped Xcel Energy Center on Monday with a 2-1 shootout win against the Minnesota Wild.
Anthony Duclair scored the only goal of the shootout and Phoneix rallied from a goal down in the final 90 seconds to earn its second consecutive win. Phoenix were dominated for 40 minutes, putting six shots on Minnesota goaltender Devan Dubnyk, with the Wild getting 24 in that same span. Domingue, who was making his fourth consecutive start, gave the Coyotes a chance to even the game late.
Trailing 1-0 after Charlie Coyle's 13th goal midway through the third, Phoenix were shorthanded after a roughing penalty on Martin Hanzal with 1:24 remaining. Tippett put his most offensive-minded penalty-killing unit on the ice for the initial faceoff and the move paid off. Antoine Vermette won a puck battle off the faceoff, getting it to Connor Murphy for the clear. Tobias Rieder raced down the ice on the forecheck harassing Dubnyk behind the net just enough to force a turnover to Rieder, who passed to Vermette in front. With Dubnyk still behind the net, Vermette was able to squeeze the puck through three Wild players in front and into the open net for his eighth goal with 1:14 left in regulation.
Minnesota carried 36 seconds of power-play time into overtime before Coyle took a high-sticking penalty, giving the Coyotes a power play. Phoenix appeared to score the winner with 2:13 left in overtime when Michael Stone's shot from the point got past Dubnyk low on his blocker side. The goal was immediately waved it off because of goaltender interference and the call was upheld after a video review. In the shootout, Zach Parise lost control of the puck before Domingue stuffed Mikko Koivu's forehand try. Dubnyk, who made 23 saves, stopped Boedker's chance before Duclair beat him low on his glove side with a speedy forehand-backhand maneuver. Needing a goal to continue the shootout, Coyle's shot hit off the right post. Minnesota heads into the All-Star break having lost seven of its past eight games, including five-straight on home ice.
Phoenix had seven shots on Dubnyk during the first six minutes of the third period, more than doubling its total from the first two periods combined.
The Wild finally broke through on their 32nd shot of the game when Coyle buried a rebound of his own shot from in front of the net at 10:20. Coyle has scored in three consecutive games and his 13 goals are a new career high.

Wild Quotes
Mike Yeo: "Right now, when the game is on the line, we're not making the winning play. Whether it's protecting a lead, whether it's getting a lead, when the game is tied. Right now, we're not making the winning play. That's what we have to fix here, it's a collection of a bunch of little things right now."
"We're giving ourselves a chance, but we're not grabbing it. We're hanging around, but we're not grabbing it. Every game that we've lost during this stretch has been a winnable game for us. We're finding ways to lose hockey games."
Zach Parise: "A lot of good offensive zone time, a lot of good chances, and the same story, we just couldn't get a second goal, which has kind of been a common theme for a little while now."
Charlie Coyle: "It would have been nice to get that insurance goal, and have that breathing room."

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