Detroit Red Wings unable to get second point vs. lowly Coyotes, fall, 4-3 in shootout
TEMPE, Ariz. — The Detroit Red Wings had the crowd on their side as they played in a college-sized arena.
Their game Tuesday at Mullett Arena offered a setting unique in the NHL, with seating capacity less than a third of most arenas. The stands were heavy on ready and white — with a smattering of empty seats — as the Wings made their only visit of the season.
The Wings outshot the Arizona Coyotes, 39-21 in regulation, but it was the Coyotes who possessed the puck almost the entire overtime. The Wings ended up settling for a point, falling 4-3 in a shootout. The Coyotes had lost nine straight coming into the game.
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Dylan Larkin used a power play to score his 15th goal of the season, and Pius Suter added his sixth of the season to pull the Wings ahead in the third period. David Perron followed up a minute after Suter’s goal to put the Wings up by a pair. But Magnus Hellberg let in two straight shots, to Travis Boyd at 6:43 and Dylan Guenther at 7:53, spoiling the Wings’ momentum.
Setting the scene
Mullett Arena (named after benefactors, not the hairstyle) is home to the men’s and women’s hockey teams, located in the heart of the Arizona State University campus. It became home to the Coyotes after things didn’t work out at their former home, Gila River Arena, in nearby Glendale. The Coyotes are signed to play at Mullett Arena through 2025, even as seating capacity for NHL games is capped at 4,600. (Little Caesars Arena capacity for NHL games is 19,515.) It’s not ideal for an NHL club to play at such a small rink, but it does make for an intimate feeling, and there isn’t a bad seat in the arena.
Setting a tone
The Wings had talked about the need to set a tone early after Monday’s loss at Colorado. They did a good job establishing zone time in the first period, and tested Connor Ingram with a steady barrage. A penalty kill late in the first period ended when Barrett Hayton (who the Coyotes took at No. 5 in 2018, a spot ahead of where the Wings drafted Filip Zadina) was called for holding, setting up 41 seconds of four-on-four play. The Wings spent the first part of their eventual power play passing the puck along the left boards, but Jonatan Berggren eventually had the best chance of the period when he fired a shot from the right circle. The Wings had a 17-7 edge in shots after the first period.
Setting up
The Wings had directed 25 shots on net when they went on their second power play, at 8:30 of the second period, when Lucas Raymond drew a penalty on Nick Bjugstad. Off the draw, Tyler Bertuzzi got the puck to Moritz Seider, who found Larkin for his 15th goal of the season. The lead lasted less than three minutes, with Jacob Chychrun setting up Bjugstad in the left circle at 11:09 to make it 1-1. It was one of only four shots on net the Coyotes had in the second period, as the Wings mounted a 30-11 edge in shots after two periods.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings fall at lowly Arizona Coyotes, 4-3 in shootout
Source: Yahoo Sports
