Coyotes blow late lead, finally get win in OT
PHILADELPHIA -- Defenseman Alex Goligoski scored with 14.4 seconds remaining in overtime, and goaltender Scott Wedgewood made 28 saves to help the Arizona Coyotes avoid the worst start in NHL history with a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
The win was the first of the season for the Coyotes (1-10-1), who matched the NHL record with 11 straight losses to open the season.
Left winger Jordan Martinook and center Christian Dvorak each scored their first goals of the season and right winger Brendan Perlini netted his second for the Coyotes, who won for the first time under first-year coach Rick Tocchet despite blowing a two-goal lead in the final minute of regulation.
The Coyotes held a 3-1 lead with less than a minute remaining in regulation. With Philadelphia goaltender Brian Elliott pulled for an extra attacker, Jordan Weal scored with 52.6 seconds remaining, and Sean Couturier tied it with 14.4 seconds to go.
Couturier's goal came after Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov gloved Dvorak's clearing attempt out of the air at the Philadelphia offensive blue line.
The Coyotes failed to score on a power play in overtime but secured their first win when Clayton Keller passed up a shot and fed Gologoski just below the right circle for his first goal of the season.
The Flyers (6-5-1) received two goals from Couturier in the loss. Elliott (30 saves) took the loss, falling to 5-2-1.
Wedgewood, 25, was playing his first NHL game in 19 months. He was acquired from the New Jersey Devils on Saturday in exchange for a fifth-round draft pick. He had not played an NHL game since March 27, 2016, and had played in only one AHL game this season.
He was pressed into action because goaltender Antti Raanta was not cleared to return from a lower-body injury that has kept him out of eight straight games.
The Flyers managed just three shots on Wedgewood in the opening period and 10 shots in the middle period. Wedgewood's bid for his second NHL shutout was foiled 2:13 into the third period when Couturier beat him with a rising shot.
The Coyotes jumped out to a 2-0 lead on first-period goals by Martinook and Dvorak. Martinook went the final 18 games of last season and the first 10 games of this season without a goal, but he snapped a cross-ice feed from Niklas Hjalmarsson past Elliott just 2:20 into the game.
It marked the ninth time in 12 games the Coyotes scored first, although they entered the game 0-7-1 on the previous eight occasions.
Dvorak, who netted 15 goals for Arizona last season, made it 2-0 on the Coyotes' fourth shot of the game. He inadvertently got in the way of an Oliver Ekman-Larsson shot, corralled the puck and whipped it past Elliott at the 7:46 mark of the period.
Perlini made it 3-0 just 1:34 into the third period when he snapped a short-side shot past Elliott's catching glove.
The Flyers drew within two goals when Couturier roofed a shot over Wedgewood's right shoulder for a power-play goal, but Wedgewood made a nice stop on Weal with about six minutes remaining in regulation.
NOTES: Arizona G Antti Raanta (lower body injury) sat out his eighth straight game, forcing the Coyotes to recall backup Hunter Miska from the AHL's Tucson Roadrunners. Raanta is practicing with the club and could return to action when the Coyotes conclude their five-game road trip Tuesday night in Detroit. ... Philadelphia D Shayne Gostisbehere (upper-body injury) missed his first game of the season, and C Nolan Patrick (upper-body injury) missed his third straight game. Both are believed to have head injuries. ... The Flyers recalled D Mark Alt from the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms. He played his second NHL game on a second pairing with Radko Gudas. ... After several players complained about the condition of the ice in their previous home game, the Flyers laid a new sheet of ice for Monday night's game.