Guenther’s OT Winner Caps Coyotes Comeback Win Over Kraken

STATS 

Dylan Guenther has scored some prolific overtime goals in his young career, but never in the NHL.

He changed that with one shot on Friday.

Guenther scored the overtime winner, Clayton Keller tied the game with 1:08 to play in the third, and the Arizona Coyotes rallied late to beat the Seattle Kraken 2-1 at Mullett Arena on Friday. Karel Vejmelka made 27 saves to earn his 10th win of the season, and he has now won four of his last six starts.

Guenther -- who scored the golden goal for Team Canada at the 2023 World Junior Championship -- recorded his first-ever NHL overtime winner on Friday, becoming the fifth player 20-or-younger to do so in franchise history.

The others? Keller (twice), Christian Fischer (twice), Shane Doan, and Dale Hawerchuk.

“It feels good,” Guenther said. “I bumped it back to [Cooley], and I saw my guy take a step inside, and he made a nice play to me. It was a nice shot. I felt like we had some pretty good looks, both him and I this game, and it was nice to get one there.”

Ryker Evans scored his first career goal and Joey Daccord made 24 saves for the Kraken, who lost their seventh consecutive game.

Vejmelka kept Seattle scoreless through two periods, and the Coyotes netminder has posted save percentages of .919 or higher in five of his last six games. He holds the best save percentage among NHL goalies with at least three games played since March 12, at .958.

“He’s playing really good,” head coach André Tourigny said. “I see a guy who’s competing really hard, who’s really quick in the net, who’s making key saves, and who’s giving us a chance every night. He has that fire and he’s competing really hard right now. I’m happy for him.”

The Coyotes were ultimately outshot 28-26 by the Kraken, but recorded 20 blocked shots, compared to Seattle’s eight.

“The boys in front of me did a great job, they blocked a ton of shots again,” Vejmelka said. “Every game is a little bit different. I just try to prepare in the same way every time and just see what’s going to happen. I want to be ready for every game.”

Seattle ultimately struck first after Evans fired a shot past a sprawling Vejmelka to give the Kraken a 1-0 lead 7:40 into the third. It was Evans’ first career NHL goal, which looked like it may stand up to be the game-winner after Jack McBain’s apparent tying tally was disallowed a few minutes later due to kicking the puck.

Then came Keller’s heroics, as he chipped a rebound up and under the crossbar with just 1:08 to play in the period. The 25-year-old has 61 points in 66 games this season, and has now scored in four straight games, which ties his career-best mark.

“The first two periods I thought we had some pretty good looks,” Guenther said. “Tight game, nice to battle back and win a game like that, for sure.”

Guenther then finished the comeback, taking a stretch pass from Logan Cooley and beating Daccord top shelf on a breakaway.

The Coyotes may no longer be in the Western Conference’s playoff race, but they continue to stick together as a group with just 12 games remaining in the NHL season.

“You’re always playing for something, no matter who you are,” Guenther said. “You’re playing for next year. People would kill to play the last 15 games in the NHL, so don’t take it for granted.”

Tourigny took note of that attitude, as well.

“That’s the kind of thing we want to work on, being able to play those tight games, stay with it, and being resilient,” he said. “I think coming back from behind and getting the two points, there’s a lot of positives in that game.

The Coyotes are back in action on Sunday, facing the Dallas Stars for the third-and-final time this season. Puck drop is scheduled for 5 pm MST, and the game will be broadcast on Arizona 61 (TV) and 98.7 FM Arizona Sports (Radio).