Pyotr Kochetkov made 30 saves as Carolina Hurricanes defeated Arizona Coyotes 5-1 at Mullett Arena on Friday.
Jack Drury and Martin Necas each recorded two assists for the Hurricanes (31-27-5). With these victories in six out of eight matches played since mid-July, their win total has improved from 20-53-1 to 35-17-5 overall.
Carolina took an early 2-0 advantage in the opening 4:50 of the first period.
“Our start was fantastic, and goaltender ‘Kooch’ made some outstanding saves,” stated Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour after their win against Ottawa. Although early advantages weren’t fully utilized later on in the matchup, “the start made all the difference.
Dylan Guenther scored for the Coyotes (23-25-4), who have gone winless since defeating Pittsburgh 5-2 on Jan 22. Karel Vejmelka allowed five goals on 26 shots before being replaced during the third period by Matt Villalta, who made four saves en route to an NHL debut performance.
Arizona coach Andre Tourigny stated, “Our start was unfortunate in terms of details being more clear,” with Arizona losing in overtime by four goals to one. Tourigny ultimately held responsibility and must ensure this does not occur again in future games.
Jordan Martinook struck 16 seconds into the opening period to give Carolina a 1-0 advantage. Brady Skjei tossed in a puck from along the left-side boards, with Martinook using his backhand shot on its rebound to score.
“Our start was impressive; that goal really got our energy going and set a good tone,” Carolina forward Michael Bunting noted after their victory over Chicago at 4:50 am with Jalen Chatfield scoring off Necas’ wraparound pass to make it 2-0 and give them momentum heading into halftime.
Martinook noted, “Our start was tremendous; scoring two quick ones made the crowd nervous, so after we hit those early ones, I think everyone took a breather a bit,” which could explain their subsequent dip in performance.
Guenther scored on a breakaway to reduce Carolina’s advantage to one goal at 14 minutes 32. Logan Cooley prevented Carolina from controlling possession in the neutral zone and prevented Carolina from seizing control of the puck.
“We started off] really strong and stuck to our game plan, but then started turning over pucks in the neutral zone,” Hurricanes defenseman Brett Pesce noted. “However, by midway through the second period, we did an effective job in simplifying our game.”
At 6:28 of the second period, Seth Jarvis cut Arizona’s lead to 3-1 when Coyotes defenseman Travis Dermott misfired a pass intended for Nick Schmaltz but deflected instead to Jarvis in the left circle, where his one-timer beat Vejmelka with ease.
Tourigny noted the difficulty in competing against Montreal due to their constant pressure and insistence that you make choices quickly enough without becoming stagnated in their playing style. That goal came at just the right moment, too, when tired bodies struggled for possession despite trying their hardest, leading directly to them scoring to make it 3-1 and making things tough for us.”
The Hurricanes, who began a three-game road trip against Dallas before facing Vegas this Saturday, bounced back after suffering their third consecutive 3-1 defeat on Tuesday against Dallas Stars with an emphatic 4-2 win against them on Thursday. Also Read: Flyers Lose 4-3 in Extra Time Against Leafs
“Interestingly enough, we played better against Dallas than tonight but got more reward here in terms of scoring opportunities and capitalization,” Jarvis commented. “But there are still some things that need to be improved upon; that said, we made strides tonight, and I feel good.”
Teuvo Teravainen scored on the power play at 17:16 to make it 4-1 after Vejmelka saved Drury’s one-timer from inside of the slot. Teravainen placed in a rebound at the right post following Vejmelka saving Drury’s one-timer from the slot.
Bunting scored his fifth goal at 4:37 of the third period to give Bunting and Vejmelka an early 5-1 edge, leaving Vejmelka trailing.
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