In Glendale, the Arizona Coyotes continued their hot play and defeated the Detroit Red Wings, 3-1 for their sixth straight win.
Darcy Kuemper made 22 saves to get the win.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson had a goal in Arizona win over Red Wings – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“I thought we played well. We limited their chances, we got some key goals, but I don’t even look at the standings, to be honest,” Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Vinnie Hinostroza had multi point nights with a goal and assist apiece.
“I thought we came out a little slow, but then we got going and played good and played the way we wanted to play,” Ekman-Larsson said. “We want to keep it going. It’s a lot of fun right now.”
Dylan Larkin scored the lone Red Wings goal.
“It’s still not good enough,” forward Justin Abdelkader said. “We didn’t generate enough and gave them a lot of odd-man rushes and chances. We’ve got to make sure we’re playing a lot tighter defensively and protecting the puck better. And we didn’t do enough in the offensive zone.”
The Coyotes improved to 32-28-5 and remain one point back of the second card spot.
“Since he (Kuemper) took the (starter’s) role, he’s been a different guy in the sense that he knows that it’s [his] net,” Tocchet said. “For eight years, he’s been a backup and doesn’t know when he’s playing. He’s taken it to a different level. He’s confident, but the guys are confident in him, too.”
Josh Archibald opened the scoring for the Coyotes with a goal in the first period.
[WATCH:Â All Red Wings vs. Coyotes highlights]
Jimmy Howard made 41 saves in the loss.
“It’s another loss. We’ve got to come out and make sure the details in our game are great. We’ve got to make sure we’re working through it and giving it our all. The only way we’re going to get out of this is work through it,” Justin Abdelkader said one more loss for the Red Wings.
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