In Glendale, the Arizona Coyotes could not keep the good times rolling on Thursday night as Joonas Korpisalo made 30 saves for the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets, in a 3-2 loss.
Korpisalo was stellar on breakaways by Michael Grabner in shorthanded situations.
“I saw him coming there twice, but I’m just trying to help the team get points,” Korpisalo said. “That’s my part, I’ve got to save those two. I felt comfortable from the start and I felt it all the way through the game.”
Carl Soderberg and Jakob Chychrun scored for Arizona.
Oliver Bjorkstrand picked up the game-winner, and Gustav Nyquist and Emil Bemstrom scored for the Jackets.
“This was a huge game, and we needed this win,” Bjorkstrand said. “It’s nice to win and it’s nice to get a few goals. That was important for us.”
The Coyotes dropped to 9-5-2.
“We’re giving points away. We had [the] Calgary [Flames] up 3-1 in the third, and this one, we’re up 2-1,” Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said. “It wasn’t what Columbus was doing, it was us shooting ourselves in the foot. … Too many dumb penalties. And we have to have guys step up.”
[WATCH: All Blue Jackets vs. Coyotes highlights]
Darcy Kuemper made 30 saves in the loss.
“We need some guys to step it up. That [power play] was not good, and we have some good players out there,” Tocchet said. “Somebody’s got to take the puck in the middle and shoot the puck. We haven’t been good on the 6-on-5 since I’ve been here, and it’s starting to really bother me.”
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