Coyotes catch Colorado

After getting out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, on home ice, the Arizona Coyotes had to play catch up with the Colorado Avalanche.

In the end, the Coyotes got the win, 5-4, on skills.

Phil Kessel tied the game up at 4-4 midway through the third period.

“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.”

Adin Hill made 35 saves to help get the game to an extra session.

“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 Avs had won eight straight ahead of the loss.

“We were talking we wanted to get that second point, and we had a good opportunity, but that’s how it goes sometimes,” the Avs’ Joonas Donskoi said. “You can’t win every game. It probably wasn’t our best 60 minutes, that’s for sure.”

Nathan MacKinnon (three points) Mikko Rantanen (two points) and Gabriel Landeskog (two points) all had goals for Colorado.

“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.”

Jakob Chychrun and Alex Goligoski staked the Coyotes to the early 2-0 lead.

“They probably outworked us tonight,” Colorado head coach Jared Bednar said. “They really wanted it. After that start, we’re probably fortunate to get a point.”

Valeri Nichushkin also scored for the Avs, his goal made the score 4-2 before the Coyotes rallied with two in the third period.

“Those guys are going to get their looks,” Chychrun said. “They’re obviously unbelievable players, so it was a huge comeback win for us.”

Lawson Crouse cut the Avs’ lead to 4-3 before Kessel tied it.

Arizona won the game on three strikes in the skills competition from Nick Schmaltz, Conor Garland and Christian Dvorak. Jonas Johansson made 28 saves in the loss.