In Tempe, the Coyotes held the Dallas Stars close for two periods, trailing 3-2 after 40 minutes of play.
Dallas scored twice in the third for a 5-2 win on Friday.
Jason Robertson had a goal and four points in the win, his second [period goal gave the Stars a 3-2 lead coming out of the middle frame.
“I’ve had a lot of looks the past couple of games,” Robertson said. “I mean a lot, so I was happy when it finally went in. I know it’s a big milestone, so I’m just glad it happened.”
The goal was also his 100th career NHL marker.
“He’s got that sneaky shot, he can beat goalies from distance and there’s not many guys who can do that in the League,” Stars coach Peter DeBoer said of Robertson. “He’s one of them, and it was a huge goal timing-wise for us. He gave us a lead going into the third, and it was a big, big, big goal for us.”
Jake Oettinger made 16 saves in the Stars win.
Dallas improved to 41-20-14, and moved to within one point of the Minnesota Wild for the top spot in the Central Division.
Joe Pavelski staked Dallas to a 1-0 lead in the first period.
The Coyotes responded with two strikes; Juuso Valimaki (power play) and Connor Mackey scored to give Arizona a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes.
Arizona dropped to 27-36-13 off their sixth straight loss.
“I don’t think we played with enough urgency,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. “There’s a way to play against that kind of team and I’m not sure our focus was in the right place. … They play a really high-paced game where they’re on you all the time, and you’ve got to be willing to fight through that.”
Roope Hintz scored 53 seconds into the middle frame to tie the game, 2-2.
“I think in the first [period] we were real sloppy, trying to just turn it over in the neutral zone and not really putting a lot of pressure inside their offensive zone,” Robertson said. “We kind of fixed that in the second and third, guys were trying to hold pucks longer and getting behind the defensemen.”
Jamie Benn and Max Domi (empty net)Â scored in the third for the 5-2 final.
“When you’re breaking records of guys like Mike Modano, that’s pretty special, it’s rare air,” DeBoer said. “The fact that he was here tonight shows you what a class act he is.”
Karel Vejmelka made 26 saves in the Coyotes loss.
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