Arizona Coyotes Home Ice Troubles Continue

The Boston Bruins defeated the Arizona Coyotes 5-2 Saturday night. Boston was on another level here, Arizona was in it for a period and a half, but Boston just pulled away pretty easily handing Arizona yet another loss at home.

It only took 58 seconds for Boston to get on the board. The Bruins took advantage of an Arizona turnover and Brad Marchand made the Coyotes pay. Five minutes later, Boston would score again. Their second goal came on yet another turnover by Arizona. Facing adversity early, Arizona didn’t seem to give up. They played decent enough to keep Boston to just the two goals. Late in the period, Joe Vitale cut into the Bruins lead, snapping a shot past Tuukka Rask on the rush. The Bruins brought heavy pressure as the period ended, but Arizona was able to hold on and escape the period down by only one goal.

Arizona played fairly well in beginning the 2^nd. They began the period by killing off a penalty and found their style of play. They were blocking a lot of shots and was able to sustain a good amount of offensive zone time. Despite that, Boston was still able to score another goal and go up by two once again. It was a bit of a fluky goal that had to be reviewed for a kicking motion, but it was ruled a good goal. Arizona still fought back, they had some good opportunities in Boston’s zone, but their shots were either over the net or just wide. Boston, however, would not miss on their opportunities. Marchand found the back of the net late in the period putting Boston up 4-1. That would be all for Devan Dubnyk as Head Coach Dave Tippett replaced him with Mike Smith. With 29 seconds left in the period, Boston scored on the power play. The period mercifully ended 5-1 in favor of Boston.

With a commanding four goal lead, Boston let up quite a bit in the 3^rd. Arizona still had chances but their shots continued to miss the net. The Coyotes eventually scored on a power play mid way through the period.  Mikkel Boedker beat Rask in almost an identical way that Joe Vitale did, blocker side top shelf. That would be it for the scoring and the Coyotes dropped yet another game on home ice.

Game Notes

• Jordan Martinook made his NHL debut for Arizona tonight.
• Andrew Campbell made his Coyotes debut tonight.
• Connor Murphy returned from injury.
• There have been goalie changes in two consecutive games for Arizona.

Goals:

Coyotes:

• Joe Vitale (3^rd)
• Mikkel Boedker (9^th)

Bruins:

• Brad Marchand (7^th, 8^th)
• Kevan Miller (1^st)
• Simon Gagne (3^rd)
• Loui Eriksson (4^th)

Three Stars

1. Brad Marchand (BOS)
2. Tuukka Rask (BOS)
3. Reilly Smith (BOS)