Coyotes Game 27 Recap: Coyotes start okay but slowly fall apart

The Wild scored four unanswered goals in the third period.

Game Recap

The Arizona Coyotes came into this game having stolen a point against the Colorado Avalanche. Things started better tonight, but the Coyotes completely collapsed against the Minnesota Wild.

Adin Hill started for the Coyotes, and at first, they made things easy for him. The Coyotes were looking to push, and thanks to an early power play, they were outshooting the Wild 6-1.

Phil Kessel almost gave the Desert Dogs an early lead. He had two breakaways on a single shift, with the second one resulting in the Wild taking a penalty and the Coyotes going back on the power play.

But that second play was short-lived. Kessel was called for tripping 32 seconds later, eliminating the rest of the Coyotes’ power play. The Coyotes would kill the penalty, but it was the start of a bad trend.

Arizona started the second period well enough. Nick Schmaltz, Lawson Crouse, and Conor Garland had a few good shifts in the Wild zone, and things seemed to be taking up.

Things fell apart in the second half of the period, and the Coyotes took three penalties in seven minutes.

The Coyotes managed to kill all the penalties, but it gave the Wild all the momentum as the second period expired. Letting your opponent start the final period with a power play is also not a great plan.

And then suddenly, it became a different game. The Coyotes were having problems clearing the zone when Kirill Kaprizov recovered the puck. The puck hit Christian Dvorak on route to the net, redirecting it in past Adin Hill.

Before that had happened, Conor Garland took a heavy crosscheck that was not called. If it had been called, the Wild’s goal may not have happened, but what matters is how the team responds.

Kaprizov doubled the Wild’s lead a few minutes later. And to add insult to injury, it was another goal that went in after being deflected by a Coyotes player.

And it was just going to be another one of those nights. Despite getting some decent looks, they had no finish. It was one of the extremely frustrating games where they just couldn’t score.

The Coyotes would pull Hill with 2:49 left in the game. They looked decent with the extra man, but Minnesota eventually got an empty-netter. Kaprizov would score another goal, but really, it was already over.

Lines

Stray Thoughts

• John Hayden and Michael Chaput both drew into this game. Hayden was limited to 6:49 and Chaput played 6:26.
• The Coyotes wore their home reds, likely because the Wild were wearing their white reverse retros.
• Here is the hit on Garland. It should have been called, and it could have changed the Wild’s first goal. But that’s no excuse for the team getting shut out.

Three Stars

1. Kirill Kaprizov – 3 goals
2. Cam Talbot – 25 saves on 25 shots
3. Adin Hill – 28 saves on 31 shots

Next Game

The Coyotes play the Wild this Sunday at 11:00 AM.