Carcone Scores Twice as Coyotes Top Lightning on Tuesday

STATS

Now that's how you open a homestand.

Michael Carcone scored twice, Travis Boyd added a goal, and Connor Ingram made 30 saves as the Arizona Coyotes topped the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 on Tuesday in the first of five consecutive games at Mullett Arena.

The Coyotes (10-9-2) are in the midst of a five-game stretch in which they will have faced the previous five Stanley Cup winners, beginning with a 2-0 win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday. They repeated their performance against the Lightning on Tuesday, channeling a little Mullett Magic along the way.

Arizona hosts Colorado on Thursday, St. Louis on Saturday, and Washington on Monday before wrapping up its homestand against Philadelphia on Dec. 7.

On Tuesday, though, the Coyotes received quality secondary scoring and yet another stellar performance from Ingram to earn their second consecutive win.

"We played well," head coach André Tourigny said. "We played a little bit better offensively, as well. We played good defense, we had great goaltending, and I think Ingy needed to be ... he was really solid."

Brayden Point scored and Jonas Johansson made 24 saves for the Lightning (10-8-5), who dropped their second straight game. Tampa Bay entered Tuesday's matchup with the league's second-best power-play percentage, but ultimately came up empty on both of its opportunities with the man advantage.

The 27-year-old Carcone is in his first full NHL season just one year after winning the AHL scoring title with 85 points in 65 games, and has three multi-goal games this season, which is tied for eighth in the NHL. His nine goals are second-most on the team, behind only Lawson Crouse's 10.

"He’s improving," Tourigny said. "He’s skating, he has more commitment defensively. The last two games he was way more responsible with the puck, and I’m happy for him. He made some sacrifices with the puck and he still got rewarded, so it’s a good message for him."

Carcone is relishing his time at the NHL level, as he had played just 30 career games with the Desert Dogs prior to this season.

"It’s taken some time to get here, so I want to do the best I can with it," he said. "I don’t think I’m fully there. I’ve got more in the tank for my teammates, but offensively, it's always been a strength in my game, so continue with that, and just try to put my teammates in a better situation, whether it’s changing or putting pucks in the right areas, whatever it may be."

Carcone opened the scoring at 3:21 of the first period, wristing a puck past Johansson at 3:21 of the first from the top of the right circle to give Arizona a 1-0 lead.

Boyd gave the Coyotes a 2-0 cushion 5:42 into the second, streaking into the zone before firing it past Johansson’s glove, but Point answered at 15:22, finishing a 2-on-1 break with Nikita Kucherov to bring the Lightning to within one.

Carcone restored the Coyotes' two-goal lead at 7:22 of the third period, walking the puck down low in on Johansson before backhanding it into the net.

From there, Ingram never flinched en route to winning his second game in as many starts. He now has two wins, one shutout, and a .985 save percentage (64/65) over his last two games, and improved to 8-3-0 this season.

The 26-year-old netminder won just six games all of last year.

"He’s so calm back there," Carcone said. "I played with him in the American League a bunch, and I thought highly of him then, and I think highly of him now. He's a guy we trust in, and he’s been a rock for us."

Ingram has stood tall in some of the most crucial points in the game, helping shut down Tampa Bay's potent power play, and he also had help in front of him considering the Coyotes blocked 24 shots in the game.

He may not be flashy, but his calming presence is evident to everyone who's watched him play lately.

"I think if someone who didn’t know hockey watched me from the stands, I probably look like I don’t have a pulse out there sometimes," Ingram joked. "When I feel good, the game slows down, and it looks boring, so I’ll take it.

"Vanilla, as they used to say."

Arizona is back in action on Thursday against the Colorado Avalanche in the first of four meetings between the two teams. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 pm MST, and will be broadcast on the following networks:

WHERE TO WATCH:
• Antenna: 61.1 Phoenix, 9.2 Tucson
• Phoenix Cable: Cox 95
• Phoenix Satellite: DirecTV Channel 61, Dish Network Channel 61
• Bullhead City / Lake Havasu: Optimum channel 6
• Flagstaff: American Cable channel 4, Optimum Cable channel 6
• Maricopa: Orbitel channel 11
• Pinal County: Mediacom channel 13
• Prescott: Sparklight channel 61
• Sedona: Optimum Cable channel 6
• Show Low / Winslow Sparklight channel 61
• Tucson: Cox channel 85, Xfinity channel 1179, Orbitel channel 208
WHERE TO LISTEN:
• Radio: ESPN 620
• Stream: Arizona Coyotes App, NHL Mobile App