Coyotes top Flyers to snap losing streak
PHILADELPHIA -- It's taken him five tries, but Arizona Coyotes backup goaltender Louis Domingue finally has his first win of the season.
Playing in place of injured starter Mike Smith, Domingue made 28 saves and received goal support from left winger Jamie McGinn, defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, centers Martin Hanzal and Brad Richardson and right winger Ryan White to give the Coyotes a 5-4 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
The Coyotes (2-5-0) snapped a five-game losing streak with the win. Both of their wins this season have come against the Flyers. They will not play again this season.
The Flyers (3-4-1) received goals from centers Nick Cousins and Brayden Schenn, defenseman Andrew MacDonald and right winger Wayne Simmonds, but lost for the second time in three games.
Goaltender Steve Mason was shaky in the loss, allowing five goals on 25 shots to fall to 2-4-1.
With the score knotted at 2-2 through two periods, the Coyotes took a 3-2 lead when half the crowd was focused on a fight 100 feet away. While Schenn and Jeff Chychrun were getting ready to throw punches at center ice, Hanzal was finishing off a beautiful 2-on-1 with left winger Max Domi for a tap-in goal 6:31 into the period.
After a brief huddle the referees decided Hanzal scored just before their whistle blew the play dead.
The Coyotes made it 4-2 less than two minutes later with Richardson's third goal of the season and first while short-handed. On a 2-on-1 with left winger Tobias Rieder, Richardson raced toward a bouncing puck in the slot. Mason tried poke-checking the puck but it bounced off the chest of Richardson and the two crashed into the net together, along with the puck.
The Flyers answered with MacDonald's first goal of the season on a blast from the point with 11:26 to play, but unlike their previous game, a comeback was not in the cards. White sealed it for the Coyotes with his first goal of the season with 4:19 to play. It proved to be a crucial goal because Simmonds scored to make it 5-4 with 15.3 seconds remaining.
The Flyers have been chronically slow starters this season and it continued against the Coyotes, who took a 2-0 lead on first-period goals by McGinn and Ekman-Larsson. It marked the fourth straight home game the Flyers failed to score in the opening period and they've now been outscored 8-1 in eight first periods this season.
McGinn, who scored 22 goals last season with the Buffalo Sabres and Anaheim Ducks, netted his first goal for the Coyotes when he snapped a shot that rolled up and over the shoulder of Mason 7:33 into the game.
Ekman-Larsson continued his torrid start by blasting his fifth goal of the season past Mason after a defensive-zone giveaway by Philadelphia defenseman Brandon Manning.
The Flyers put some heavy pressure on Domingue in the second period and netted a pair of goals to tie it. Cousins scored his first of the season 9:34 into the second period when he tapped in a Schenn rebound. Schenn followed with his second power-play goal of the season at the 15:00 mark. The Flyers have now outscored their opponents 15-11 in second periods, while the Coyotes have been outscored 10-4 in the middle frame.
NOTES: Coyotes D Luke Schenn faced his younger brother, Flyers C Brayden Schenn, for the first time since Luke was traded by the Flyers last season. ... Coyotes RW Ryan White faced his former team for the first time since leaving Philadelphia to sign with the Coyotes. ... Flyers C Claude Giroux entered the game with an NHL-high eight assists. ... C Dylan Strome, LW Lawson Crouse and D Kevin Connauton were scratched for the Coyotes. C Boyd Gordon and D Nick Schultz were the Flyers' scratches. Gordon came out of the lineup to make room for RW Dale Weise. ... Before the game, the Flyers honored members of their own Hall of Fame, including Hockey Hall of Famers Bob Clarke, Bernie Parent, Bill Barber, Mark Howe and Eric Lindros.