The Arizona Coyotes took a cakewalk that led them to victory Tuesday night. On a night where the Red Wings could not consistently produce, the Coyotes went on a scoring binge to win 4-1 at the Joe Louis Arena. Jamie McGinn had two goals on the night that ended what was thought to be another Coyotes losing streak.
The Red Wings wanted to get back to dealing out more offense after losing another game in overtime where it took one goal to defeat them. Philadelphia fought with Detroit through regulation before capturing the second point that left Detroit half empty. Henrik Zetterberg was a game time decision for the team as he didn’t take part in the morning skate. With a lower power team standing in their way, it left the possibility of Detroit easily handling the opposition. Arizona came off a 7-0 loss to the Penguins wanting nothing more than a positive turnaround.
Arizona gained an early power play where it became an easy conversion to lead after the first two minutes of the game. Anthony DeAngelo scored one through Detroit netminder Jimmy Howard who saw the puck zip by him giving the defenseman his third of the season. The Red Wings attempted to counter the score and level things against the league’s worst penalty kill. They were unable to break on the board following another man advantage for Arizona.
The Coyotes failed on their second chance as well as nothing just two shots through nine minutes of play. The Red Wings were also in the same boat looking to put their first one in the books. Scoring chances were becoming rare on ice as 12 minutes had elapsed in the period. Concern on the Red Wings bench was on a high level as they were still shot less on net where Mike Smith stood for Arizona.
The Coyotes spent more time in the Red Wings zone giving Howard plenty of action with two more shots on net. Detroit got going with five minutes on the clock where an attempt to even the score came under review. Andreas Anthanasiou got the tying goal in despite having a distinct kicking motion when the puck went in. Officials checked the video and counted the goal for the young forward giving him five on the year.
Things started to look even with less than two minutes to go but the Coyotes clearly had the upper hand. They made it clear with a last scoring rush where a backhander by Lawson Crouse got the puck underneath Howard’s arm to lead after 20 minutes.
It was 3-1 in the early minutes of the second as a full line performance ended with McGinn scoring on an easy shot in front of Howard that gave him his fifth. Arizona remained in full control for a large duration of the period when the frustrations of the Red Wings began to boil over. A hit near the boards led Red Wings forward Anthony Mantha taking on Luke Schenn near the boards. It was Mantha’s first official fighting major in the NHL but not enough to change the tide of the scoreboard.
Power plays came to the Red Wings in the late part of the second but despite all their efforts to counteract the Coyotes, they failed on two opportunities where they had chances on Smith but couldn’t complete the play on the puck. Detroit outshot Arizona 13-9 knowing that the team needed to come out ferociously in the third.
They pushed directly at the Coyotes net taking the game so close to the net where they tried jamming the puck in. Another chance had them getting closer to bringing the score together but the work of Smith held Arizona ahead.
Time speedily came off the clock leaving the Red Wings wondering how they could overcome the gap that got farther and farther away. McGinn made the task even larger with eight minutes left in regulation as the Coyotes scored on their third shot of the period that made it 4-1. The Coyotes guaranteed themselves a victory playing the final minutes of the game despite allowing Detroit man advantages. It was there that Detroit again couldn’t convert on the 5 on 4 in the final minutes. They watched the last seconds of regulation come flying off the clock handing them their first regulation loss since Nov. 9.
Smith gained a big victory stopping 37 of Detroit’s shots for a .974 save percentage. It was just his fifth of the season and one that could have had a much different result. The woes of the Red Wings goes on as they would try once again to figure out their issues. Alexey Marchenko would likely miss Thursdays game against the Los Angeles Kings dealing with a lower body injury.
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