Coyotes rally, hand Avalanche first loss in eight games

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Alex Goligoski, Phil Kessel and Lawson Crouse each had a goal and an assist, and the Arizona Coyotes handed the Colorado Avalanche their first loss in eight games with a 5-4 shootout win at Gila River Arena on Tuesday.

Adin Hill made 35 saves for the Coyotes (14-14-5), who were 1-4-2 in their previous seven games. All three Arizona shooters -- Nick Schmaltz, Conor Garland and Christian Dvorak -- scored in the shootout.
"We battled all night. We had some guys hurting and we were on fumes, and that's a great team over there," Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. "We scraped some lines together, and it was a great win for us. Great."
Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and two assists, and Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog each had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche (20-8-3). Jonas Johansson made 28 saves in his Colorado debut after being acquired in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.

MacKinnon, who has 13 points (five goals, eight assists) during a seven-game point streak, gave the Avalanche a 3-2 lead with a one-timer from the high slot with 11 seconds remaining in the second period. It was his 200th career goal.
Valeri Nichushkin pushed the lead to 4-2 at 5:28 of the third, but Crouse cut it to 4-3 at 6:38 on a rebound.
"We were talking we wanted to get that second point, and we had a good opportunity, but that's how it goes sometimes," Avalanche forward Joonas Donskoi said. "You can't win every game. It probably wasn't our best 60 minutes, that's for sure."
Kessel tied it 4-4 at 8:41, scoring from a sharp angle off the right pad of Johansson for his second goal in 13 games.
"I thought our guys did an amazing job to keep the momentum going, keep playing our game and not get desperate, and it paid off in the end," Hill said.

The Avalanche had a chance to win it on the power play late in the third period and again in overtime, but Hill made a couple of big saves, including stacking the pads on a one-timer from Cale Makar at 2:24 of overtime.
"We created some looks, we shot the puck and Hill made an amazing stop, a two-pad stack on Cale," Landeskog said. "No doubt when you have a two-minute power play in overtime you want to score, no doubt about that."
Following a 5-1 loss here to the Avalanche on Monday, Tocchet switched up all of his lines, and the Coyotes responded by scoring twice in the first five minutes after being held to 10 goals in their previous seven games.
Jakob Chychrun gave Arizona a 1-0 lead at 1:25 of the first period on a wrist shot just inside the blue line.
Goligoski then scored on the Coyotes third shot of the game to make it 2-0 at 4:52. It was his first goal since Feb. 6, 2020 (47 games).
"They probably outworked us tonight," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "They really wanted it. After that start, we're probably fortunate to get a point."
Landeskog cut it to 2-1 at 14:47 of the first when he kicked the puck to his stick to score off his own rebound on a power play. Rantanen tied it 2-2 by cutting to the net and scoring off a backhand pass from MacKinnon at 18:49.
Colorado's top line of Landeskog, MacKinnon and Rantanen has combined for 27 points (10 goals, 17 assists) in the past four games.
"Those guys are going to get their looks," Chychrun said. "They're obviously unbelievable players, so it was a huge comeback win for us."
NOTES:Colorado defenseman Bowen Byram missed the game with a lower-body injury and is day to day. … Johansson is still looking for his first win this season after he was 0-5-1 in seven games for Buffalo. … Colorado, which has scored at least four goals in six consecutive games, is 9-1-2 in its past 12 games. … Hill is the Coyotes' only healthy experienced goalie. Antti Raanta (lower body) was placed on injured reserve before the game, and Darcy Kuemper (lower body) hasn't played since March 8.