In Tempe, Columbus’ Patrik Laine’s third period goal at 15:07 tied the game for the Blue Jackets and forced an extra session with the Coyotes on Sunday night.
Columbus rallied back from a 2-0 deficit in the first period to get the game to overtime.
Arizona settled down, and Barrett Hayton hit for the game-winner with two minutes gone in extra time for the 3-2 win to the Coyotes.
“There was a little breakdown and we got a 2-on-1,” Hayton said. “He’s so deceptive with the puck that he froze them and then slid it over to me. He doesn’t shoot a ton, but he’s got a really good shot, he’s sneaky, and today he was able to freeze guys and make this play.”
The Coyotes are 5-0-4 in their nine games.
Connor Ingram made 34 saves in the Arizona win.
The Coyotes improved to 20-28-9.
“I think there’s been a lot of different things,” Hayton said. “We cleaned up some things with a couple of practice days, our power play has been good lately, and we’re just dialed in.
“We’ve done a really good job in here. We have an opportunity to play a lot of home games here down the stretch and we want to keep it rolling.”
Travis Boyd and Nick Schmaltz were the first period strikers for the Coyotes.
“We played well in the first, had a sloppy second period, but we battled through the third and got two points,” Arizona defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere said.
Boyd scored off a perfect slap pass from Troy Stecher off the right side.
Columbus had won two in a row before the Sunday loss.
Schmaltz pushed the lead to 2-0 off a slap shot from the right side, in close.
Boone Jenner got on back for the Blue Jackets in the middle frame to make the score 2-1 headed to the third.
“Obviously, we wanted to have a better start, but we found our game pretty good in the second and third,” Jenner said. “We just dialed it up a little bit, gave ourselves a chance of competing, and it’s too bad we couldn’t get that extra [point].”
The Blue Jackets dropped to 18-34-5.
Elvis Merzlikins made 22 saves in the Columbus loss.
You must be logged in to post a comment.