Smith saves day as Coyotes outlast Devils
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The last time New Jersey Devils goaltender Cory Schneider was in Arizona, the Coyotes fired 96 shot attempts his way and never put one past him. On Saturday at Gila River Arena, the Coyotes only needed 10 shots to end Schneider's night.
Arizona scored four goals in the first 23:59 and held on for a wild 5-4 victory to hand New Jersey its 10th straight loss (0-8-2).
Goaltender Mike Smith preserved the victory when he stopped Taylor Hall on a penalty shot with 2:38 remaining.
The Coyotes power play entered the game in a 3-for-39 slump over its last 13 games, but Arizona scored twice with the man advantage on goals by Jakob Chychrun and rookie Brendan Perlini and built a 4-0 lead.
Radim Vrbata, Tobias Rieder and Anthony DeAngelo also scored for Arizona, which got 26 saves from Smith to win for just the third time in its last nine games
Kyle Palmieri, Beau Bennett, Damon Severson and John Moore scored for New Jersey, which pulled within a goal twice but could not get the equalizer. Keith Kinkaid made 20 saves in relief of Schneider. New Jersey was outscored 33-19 during its losing streak.
Vrbata took a feed from Max Domi in the slot and one-timed a shot into an open net for his 16th goal of the season at 1:27 of the first period. It was Vrbata's 153rd goal as a Coyote, moving him into eighth place on the franchise's all-time scoring list, passing Jeremy Roenick and Laurie Boschman.
Tobias Rieder gave Arizona a 2-0 lead off a touch pass in the slot from center Christian Dvorak at 2:53 of the first period. The goal was Rieder's 15th of the season, a career-high for the third-year forward.
Chychrun widened the lead to 3-0 on a power play late in the period. With Rieder in possession of the puck on the half wall, Chychrun left his point and skated down the slot. Rieder found him with a cross-ice feed for a one-timer at 18:26.
Chychrun's six goals are tied for second among NHL rookie defensemen. Rieder has six points in his last five games.
Perlini made it 4-0 with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle on another Coyotes power play at 3:59 of the second period for his 12th goal of the season in 42 games. That was all for Schneider.
Schneider had never allowed more than three goals to the Coyotes, yielding 11 goals in 10 games against the Coyotes with four shutouts before Saturday.
Palmieri got New Jersey on the board at 5:47 of the second period when Hall found him all alone at the left post with a perfect pass for an easy tap-in to slice the lead to 4-1. It was Palmieri's team-leading 21st goal of the season.
Bennett made it 4-2 at when a bouncing puck jumped over Coyotes defenseman Luke Schenn's stick and onto Bennett's. Bennett deked to his backhand and beat Smith with a shot into the upper corner at 12:09 of the second period.
DeAngelo gave Arizona a 5-3 lead when he beat Kinkaid through traffic from the point at 13:31 of the third period. Moore scored on a backhander off a pass from Pavel Zacha at 15:02 of the third period to cut the lead to 5-4.
NOTES: Devils captain and D Andy Greene returned to the lineup after missing the past four games because his father, David, 68, passed away March 4. ... Backup G Keith Kinkaid also returned to the lineup after missing one game with a right knee injury. New Jersey re-assigned G Ken Appleby to Albany of the AHL. ... C Travis Zajac flew home to be with his wife, Nikki, for the birth of their third child, a daughter, Anya Zia, so C Adam Henrique filled in on the top line with LW Taylor Hall and RW Kyle Palmieri. ... Devils RW Devante Smith-Pelly (lower body) missed the game after re-aggravating a nagging injury in practice Friday. New Jersey recalled RW Blake Pietila from Albany to replace him. ... Coyotes D Kevin Connauton (upper body) and C Alexander Burmistrov (concussion) missed their fourth and fifth straight games, respectively. They are listed as day-to-day. ... Recently acquired Coyotes RW Teemu Pulkkinen was a healthy scratch for a fourth straight game.