In Newark, the Arizona Coyotes put out a solid effort in a 4-3 win over the New Jersey Devils after the skills portion of the evening.
Logan Cooley made his NHL debut for the Coyotes and collected two assists on the night.
“I think what I’ll remember most is just being on the ice, the solo lap (before pregame warmup) and having my family here,” Cooley said. “The first NHL points … it’s pretty special to get that out of the way. Obviously, the most important thing is the team win and the guys welcomed me in so nice. For us to get that win against that New Jersey team was pretty special.”
Karel Vejmelka made 33 saves in the win for the Coyotes.
Jesper Bratt, who scored twice for New Jersey, put them ahead, 3-2, with his second of the night with just over a minute left in the middle frame. The second came on a two-skater advantage.
“It’s an important point that we lost and I thought we had some good looks in overtime that we definitely could have ended the game,” Bratt said. “In the shootout, we didn’t have great details and their goalie played great when we were trying to find areas to score. It’s just how it is in shootouts sometimes.”
Nick Schmaltz scored off a power play at 13:55 of the third. That was enough to force extra time, which solved nothing.
“We believe in him, we know what he can do,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said of Cooley. “You will see him all the time as a rookie, but we see him as a player for us. He’s a member of our team, an important guy on our team and he will grow every game.”
Schmaltz and Nick Bjugstad scored in the skills competition to get the Coyotes the win.
Matt Dumba scored his first goal for the Coyotes in the fist period to stake them to a 1-0 lead.
“It was a disappointing start to the game,” New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. “I thought they looked fresher, ready to play in their first game. I thought their energy was really good and they got a step on us in most places.”
Arizona extended the lead to 2-0 with a marker at 4:32 of the middle frame.
Bratt scored his first of the game at 8:09 of the second to cut into the Arizona lead.
“I loved our resiliency throughout the game,” Cooley said. “We need to stay a little more disciplined (as Arizona took six minor penalties) but just how we bounced back in that third period and stayed with it shows you what type of team we have.”
Dougie Hamilton scored at 12:29 of the second for a 2-2 tie.
Akira Schmid made 31 saves in the loss.
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