Kadri, Avalanche hang on to defeat Coyotes

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Nazem Kadri had a goal and two assists, and the Colorado Avalanche hung on for a 3-2 win against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on Friday.

The Avalanche led 3-0 until the Coyotes scored two goals 43 seconds apart late in the third period.
Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist, and Hunter Miska made 16 saves for his first NHL win for Colorado (10-6-1), which won for the first time in three games.
"Obviously, losing back-to-back games is not ideal for this group, so we wanted to bounce back in a positive way," Kadri said. "For the most part, we were in control of that game, and it was nice for [Miska] to get his first NHL win."

Adin Hill made 26 saves in his first start since Feb. 19, 2020, for Arizona (9-8-3), which rallied from down three goals to win each of its previous two games, against the Anaheim Ducks.
"It's kind of frustrating to see the pattern we've had the last three games (falling behind 3-0); obviously, we woke up, but a little too late," Coyotes defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson said. "We've got to play with more urgency."
Phil Kessel scored his fourth goal in five games with 1:36 remaining to make it 3-1, and Drake Caggiula scored his first with Arizona with 53 seconds left to make it 3-2.
"Obviously, it was a little nerve-wracking, but I thought the team was playing super well in front of me," Miska said. "I just had to stop the puck, and the good thing is we came up with two points."
The Avalanche and Coyotes are scheduled to play here again Saturday, when Arizona ends its nine-game homestand (3-3-2).
They hadn't played each other since Colorado eliminated Arizona from the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs in five games in the best-of-7 Western Conference First Round, winning each of the final two games 7-1.
"They're a better team than us, and we just can't have passengers here," Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. "They're a fast-skating team and we have some deficiencies, we know that, but you have to compete. … We had too many guys with zeros."
Rantanen gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 1:43 of the second period when he scored his Colorado-leading eighth goal and his first in eight games just before an Arizona penalty expired. The rebound of Nathan MacKinnon's shot from the left face-off circle went to Kadri, who slid the puck across the crease to Rantanen near the right post.
"I think we earned the win with the way we played, we were the better team," Rantanen said. "We didn't give up a lot until the last two minutes."

Andre Burakovsky scored on a wrist shot from the slot to make it 2-0 at 6:04 of the third period.
Kadri scored from the left circle off Cale Makar's pass from the slot at 11:00 to make it 3-0.
Miska was 0-1-1 in two starts this season for the Avalanche after playing one game for the Coyotes in 2018-19, when he and Hill were teammates most of the season with Tucson of the American Hockey League.
Miska made 27 saves for the Colorado Eagles in a 3-1 win against Tucson on Wednesday.
"It was super fun to get a win against those guys, and my goal tonight was to come back and get points from the big club as well," Miska said. "Especially against my old goalie partner; it was a good goalie battle between him and me."
Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said Miska was "calm, cool and collected. … I thought he looked really good for the bulk of the game, but he made it a little more interesting than it needed to be."
Colorado was down a forward because Matt Calvert was held out with an upper-body injury after taking part in the warmup.
NOTES: The Avalanche were 1-for-3 on the power play after going 1-for-20 in their previous seven games. … Kessel had an assist on Caggiula's goal and has four goals and four assists during a five-game point streak. He has scored 12 goals in 19 games against Colorado. … It was Caggiula's 15th game with the Coyotes after signing as a free agent Dec. 21. ... Linesman Brad Kovachik left the game at 11:09 of the first period after he was hit in the head with the puck when Avalanche forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare attempted to play it into the Coyotes zone.