Second-period goals 13 seconds apart by Nick Schmaltz and Johan Larsson broke a deadlock and the visiting Arizona Coyotes held on for a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night.
Antti Raanta made 40 saves for the Coyotes, who stopped a two-game skid. Raanta especially stood tall while stopping 17 shots in a one-sided third period dominated by the hosts.
After a scoreless first period, the teams trade power-play goals on both sides of the midway point of the second frame. Arizona's Clayton Keller opened the scoring with his second goal in as many games, when he received a cross-ice pass from Jordan Oesterle and rang a shot off the near post and into the net at 9:26 of the period.
Kings defenseman Drew Doughty replied with a man-advantage marker 93 seconds later. Adrian Kempe set him up for the shot and Doughty one-timed a rocket from the top of the right circle for his sixth goal of the season.
That set the stage for the Coyotes to pull away with a pair of quick goals. Schmaltz restored Arizona's lead when he gained the puck at the right point, moved into the circle and ripped a top-shelf offering at 12:40 of the middle frame.
Before that goal could even be announced, Larsson posted his third goal of the season to make it a 3-1 affair. Kings defenseman Olli Maatta coughed up the puck to Larsson in the slot, and Larsson immediately slipped a shot past Jonathan Quick.
The Kings, a strong third-period team, pulled within a goal thanks to Gabriel Vilardi's deflection tally with 6:13 remaining on the clock, shortly after Quick made a clutch save on Conor Garland. However, Los Angeles couldn't find the equalizer.
Quick stopped 20 shots for the Kings, who have now lost three straight (0-2-1) after cobbling together a six-game winning streak.
--Field Level Media
Arizona | Los Angeles | |
Clayton Keller 1 | Points | Drew Doughty 1 |
Clayton Keller 1 | Goals | Drew Doughty 1 |
Jakob Chychrun 1 | Assists | Mikey Anderson 1 |
Clayton Keller 1 | Power Play Goals | Drew Doughty 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Antti Raanta .952 | Save Percentage | Jonathan Quick .870 |
Antti Raanta 40 | Saves | Jonathan Quick 20 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Arizona | 23 | 3 | 2-3 | 3-4 | 8 | 18 |
Los Angeles | 42 | 2 | 1-4 | 1-3 | 6 | 30 |