Coyotes defeat Flyers as Ekman-Larsson scores in OT
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Oliver Ekman-Larsson set an NHL record for game-winning goals by a defenseman last season with eight. The Coyotes' alternate captain was up to his old tricks in the season opener on Saturday at Gila River Arena.
Ekman-Larsson took a cross-ice feed from center Martin Hanzal and buried a high attempt at 3:12 of overtime as Arizona defeated the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-3 to improve to 8-2 in NHL openers played at home.
Coyotes goalie Mike Smith made 27 saves for Arizona, including a point-blank stop on right winger Matt Read in a two-minute stretch of overtime where the Flyers held the puck in the Coyotes zone.
Shane Doan, Hanzal and Brad Richardson also scored for Arizona. Michael Raffl, Wayne Simmonds and Read scored for Philadelphia, which got 31 saves from Steve Mason.
The Flyers lacked energy and focus early in the game, taking three penalties in the first nine minutes, including two too-many-men-on-the-ice penalties in the game's opening three minutes.
The Coyotes made them pay when rookie center Christian Dvorak won a faceoff in the offensive zone and pushed the puck to defenseman Alex Goligoski. He shoveled the puck to the net, where right winger Shane Doan collected and slipped it inside the far post for a 1-0 lead at 8:49, moving the 21-year NHL veteran within three goals of 400 for his career.
Philadelphia tied the score at 12:31 when Raffl deflected defenseman Nick Schultz's shot past Smith.
The Flyers thought they had taken the lead when center Boyd Gordon, a former Coyote, centered the puck from behind the net and it got trapped under Smith's pads, but there was no visual evidence the puck crossed the goal line.
Arizona took the lead when rookie defenseman Jakob Chychrun took a pass in the neutral zone from left winger Max Domi and raced up the right wing. Chychrun's shot missed wide, but he stayed with the puck behind the net and centered it to Hanzal, who pushed it past goalie Steve Mason at 14:17.
Arizona widened the lead to 3-1 just 17 seconds into the second period on a Philadelphia power play. Left winger Jordan Martinook stripped Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere in the neutral zone and fed center Brad Richardson streaking toward the net. Richardson deked Mason to the ice and lifted a shot over Mason's waffle glove.
The Flyers pulled within 3-2 at 6:16 of the second period when center Claude Giroux split the defense and put a shot on net that Smith kicked out. The Coyotes failed to clear the rebound and right winger Wayne Simmonds slipped it between Smith's pads.
NOTES: Coyotes LW Jamie McGinn missed the game with an upper-body injury. Rookie LW Lawson Crouse took his place. ... The Coyotes debuted four rookies. In addition to Crouse, C Laurent Dauphin, C Christian Dvorak and D Jakob Chychrun were in the lineup. Chychrun (18 years, 198 days) is the youngest player in Coyotes history to make his NHL debut. ... Coyotes rookie C Dylan Strome was a healthy scratch. ... Flyers D Shayne Gostisbehere was sporting an ugly gash on his right cheek after he was cut by Kyle Clifford's skate early in Friday's game in Los Angeles against the Kings. Gostisbehere did not need stitches. ... The Flyers had three 23-year-olds (C Sean Couturier, LW Nick Cousins and Gostisbehere) and two 19-year-olds (LW Travis Konecny, D Ivan Provorov) combine for eight points in Friday. ... Coyotes D Michael Stone (knee) and Kevin Connauton (knee) are on the injured non-roster list. D Jarred Tinordi has four games remaining on a suspension for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA performance-enhancing substances program.