Coyotes score 5 straight for OT win against Avalanche

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Jack McBain scored with 20 seconds left in overtime, and the Arizona Coyotes rallied with five consecutive goals to defeat the Colorado Avalanche 5-4 at Mullett Arena on Wednesday.

McBain crashed the net and had the puck bounce in off him after a shot by Jason Zucker from the bottom of the right circle. 

“There wasn’t much to it,” McBain said. “`Zuck’ set a good shot on net, I just went there hard and got a piece of my stick on it. It was a greasy goal, but I’ll take it.”

Sean Durzi had a goal and three assists, and Lawson Crouse and Zucker each had a goal and an assist for the Coyotes (18-14-2), who have won five of six. Karel Vejmelka made 20 saves.

“Once we got the momentum, we just kept pushing,” Zucker said. “We did a great job of staying on them and not letting them breathe.”

Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to 19 games for the Avalanche (21-11-3). Mikko Rantanen also had a goal and an assist, and Alexandar Georgiev made 22 saves.

“They pushed in the third (period), and we didn't push back,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “We need to be a little bit smarter with the puck. … We just fed into it. We fed into their press and eventually they got the goals they needed.”

Crouse started Arizona's comeback by cutting it to 4-1 with a redirection at the top of the crease at 16:31 of the second period.

“When it was 4-0, obviously it was frustrating. I felt we were playing well, but then when `Crouser’ broke the ice, I said, `OK, we’ve got a game here,’“ Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said.

Michael Kesselring made it 4-2 with a wrist shot at 3:48 of the third period, and Zucker cut it to 4-3 on a wraparound at 7:04.

Durzi then tied it 4-4 at 17:53 with a wrist shot from the blue line with Vejmelka pulled for the extra attacker.

“It was a good character win for us,” McBain said. “They’re a really good team, and to get down to them 4-0 is really tough to come back from, but we stuck in there, `Vej’ played great, and obviously it was an amazing comeback.”

The Coyotes’ comeback win was their second in as many home games. They trailed the Ottawa Senators 3-0 in the first period on Dec. 19 before rallying to win 4-3.

“The boys have a lot of pride, and they compete every day, [even] in practice,” Tourigny said. “That’s in their DNA. They never quit.”

Rantanen made it 1-0 on a power play at 18:16 of the first period.

Jonathan Drouin tapped in a loose puck at the right post at 1:04 of the second to make it 2-0.

Logan O’Connor extended the lead to 3-0 at 7:56, scoring on a wraparound off a pass by Josh Manson after he came out of the penalty box.

“They’ve got some dangerous guys over there that can turn plays and turn offense quickly, and we kind of handed a few to them tonight,” Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews said. “We made it easier on them with how we were giving it to them and how we were allowing them to generate offense.”

MacKinnon made it 4-0 at 13:26 with a one-timer during a 5-on-3 power play.

“I loved the way we played the first 40 minutes. … [But] if we had a breakdown in D-zone coverage tonight, it was in the back of the net. They made some nice plays in there, but I'd say some of that was self-inflicted,” Bednar said.

NOTES: MacKinnon has 36 points (13 goals, 23 assists) during his point streak. … Rantanen has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in his past eight games. … Arizona is the first team with consecutive home comeback wins of three goals or more since the Florida Panthers from Nov. 30-Dec. 2, 2021. … Durzi’s four points were a career high.