On Monday night, the Arizona Coyotes were outshot, 43-15, by the Senators, in Ottawa.
That number should suggest something. It should suggest that the Senators are a worse hockey club than the Coyotes.
“That was not a Picasso, but they do not have to be Picassos all the time,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. “I think the ‘Sens’ played really well. They play heavy, they hit, they were strong on pucks. We had no answer for two periods, but [Crouse] decided we’ll have a game.”
Lawson Crouse hit for his first career NHL hat trick for the Coyotes in a 5-3 win.
“It’s a special feeling,” Crouse said. “I’ve said it in a few interviews now: You always want to be out there and try to make the biggest difference you can make. And to get my first hat trick tonight in front of some friends and family, it’s a really good feeling. To cap it off with a win makes it that much more special.”
Crouse was the number one star of the game, and Scott Wedgewood, who made 40 saves, was the number three star.
“They tied it up there and we bounced back and scored right away,” Wedgewood said. “We had the lead and I just tried to hold them off for as long as I could.”
Arizona has won five of their last six matches.
Crouse scored three straight for the Coyotes to give them a 3-2 lead.
The Coyotes improved to 19-36-4.
“It’s the confidence of the team right now. I think we believe in ourselves more and more every day,” Tourigny said. “In that kind of game, you can look at it two ways. You can look at our performance, and really, it was not very good. Let’s not kid ourselves. But you can look at it as well saying, even though it was not as good as we wanted, we found a way to stay with it.”
Josh Norris hit for a double for the Senators, and Connor Brown added a single marker in the loss.
“I don’t think we’ve had the puck that much and dominated a game for that long maybe since I’ve been here,” Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. “I can’t think of the last time. [The Coyotes] could barely get to the red line at one point. We just didn’t score. You have to score.”
Brown’s goal tied the game, 3-3, after Crouse completed his hat trick.
“[Crouse] is the perfect coach’s player,” Tourigny said. “He works hard, he’s focused, he takes care of his body, he does extra time, he pays attention to every detail. ‘Yes, coach. No problem, coach. Whatever you want.’ He’s always ready and always gives you his best.”
Crouse scored at even strength, one power play and a shorthanded goal for the hat trick.
“I didn’t really even notice it until after the game when someone told me,” Crouse said. “It’s just me trying to get to the right areas and put the puck in the back of the net. Tonight was one of those nights when the puck seemed to follow me around. I had a couple of good looks and capitalized on them. Hopefully more to come.”
Ottawa dropped to 21-33-5.
“It definitely [stinks],” Tkachuk said. “Bad feeling right now. One of our most dominant games we’ve played all year. It [stinks] that we didn’t get rewarded.”
Nick Schmaltz also scored for the Coyotes.
Arizona’s Barrett Hayton hit for an empty-net goal for the 5-3 final.
Filip Gustavsson made 10 saves in the Ottawa loss.
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