Senators blow 3-goal lead to Coyotes, lose 1st game under Martin

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Arizona Coyotes spoiled Jacques Martin’s debut as Ottawa Senators coach, rallying from a three-goal deficit for a 4-3 victory at Mullett Arena on Tuesday.

Martin previously was Ottawa’s coach from 1996-2004. He replaced D.J. Smith, who was fired Monday.

“I felt comfortable, we had some good meetings today. … I think we did some really good things,” said Martin, who has 613 regular-season NHL wins with four teams. “It’s going to be a process, it’s not going to happen all in one day. But what I want to see is a progression as we move along.”

Michael Kesselring scored the go-ahead goal at 16:27 of the third period after J.J. Moser and Clayton Keller scored 33 seconds apart earlier in the period to tie it 3-3.

“I think we outplayed them, to be honest, just a few little mistakes,” Kesselring said. “We kept on them and there was a belief in the room we were going to come back and win, and that’s what we did.”

Karel Vejmelka made 16 saves in shutout relief for the Coyotes (16-13-2) after replacing Connor Ingram with the Senators leading 3-0. Jack McBain had a goal and an assist, and Michael Carcone had two assists for Arizona, which won its third straight. Ingram made three saves.

“That was huge,” Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said of Vejmelka’s performance.

Angus Crookshank scored his first NHL goal, and Joonas Korpisalo made 34 saves for the Senators (11-16-0), who lost their fifth straight. Josh Norris and Dominik Kubalik scored, and Jake Sanderson had two assists.

Ottawa is 0-4-0 on a five-game road trip that ends at the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday. … 

Moser made it 3-2 at 9:14, putting in a rebound of Matias Maccelli’s shot from the slot. Keller’s sharp-angled shot from along the goal line at 9:47 tied it 3-3.

“I thought for two periods we played pretty good, but I think when they got the second goal, for sure, we needed to make some adjustment,” Martin said. “[We can’t] spend as much time in our zone.”

Kesselring’s game-winning shot from the right circle deflected off Ottawa defenseman Travis Hamonic’s skate at the left post and into the net. Korpisalo previously stopped two shots during a flurry around the net.

“We had pucks on net, traffic at the net, all the stuff we talk about,” Tourigny said.

Arizona led 12-6 in shots in the third period.

“They're a really good team and, at the end, we’ve just got to make smarter plays. We knew they we going to come at us and, yeah, it was a lucky bounce, but we gave them too many good looks,” Senators forward Tim Stützle said.

Crookshank, playing his second NHL game, gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 4:09 of the first period by redirecting Artem Zub’s shot from the blue line. He made his NHL debut Sunday against the Vegas Golden Knights.

“It’s a pretty special moment. I’m still kind of trying to find a way to digest it,” Crookshank said. “It was cool. I saw my parents jump up right away, which was something I won't ever forget.”

Norris’ one-timer from the right point gave Ottawa a 2-0 lead at 13:06, eight seconds into a power play.

Kubalik pushed it to 3-0 at 14:19 with a no-look backhand redirect of Erik Brannstrom’s shot while skating atop the crease. Vejmelka then replaced Ingram.

“We knew that [with a new coach] they were going to come out with energy, they came out pushing hard and we said, 'OK, that’s the game we’re in,'" Tourigny said.

McBain cut it to 3-1 at 14:10 of the second, putting in his own rebound on a scramble around the net 10 seconds after a power play ended.

NOTES: It was Martin’s first game as an NHL coach since 2011-12 with the Montreal Canadiens. He was hired by the Senators as senior adviser to the coaching staff Dec. 6. … Senators forward Vladimir Tarasenko returned after missing the previous two games for family matters. He was minus-1 in 16:54 of ice time. … Defenseman Jakob Chychrun played his first game in Arizona since being traded from the Coyotes to the Senators on March 1, 2023. He was minus-3 in 19:41. … McBain’s goal was his first since Oct. 30. He played his third game since missing 15 games with a lower-body injury. … The Coyotes are 11-5-0 at home, their best start since had the same record in 2011-12.