Coyotes' Careless Penalties Leads to Loss Against Blackhawks

The Arizona Coyotes’ undisciplined play led to their demise on Tuesday night as they lost 5-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks.

Going into this matchup, the Coyotes were on a two-game winning streak and finally starting to get their game back together.

It seemed like the NHL’s second worst team, the Blackhawks, would be a walk in the park for Arizona. That was not the case whatsoever.

The Coyotes were playing a solid game in the first period up until Barrett Hayton and Jack McBain penalties led to a Chcicgo five-on-three goal and they led 1-0 after 20 minutes of play.

Despite having the edge in shots for the entirety of the second period as well as goals from Nick Bjugstad and Michael Carcone keeping the Coyotes in the game, it was the countless penalties that ultimately plagued Arizona.

The Coyotes committed three more penalties on top of their other two in the opening frame and Chicago capitalized on all three power play opportunities.

“We took bad penalties,” coach André Tourigny said. “Too many men, again. That's unacceptable. We took penalties in the O-zone. That's one of the problems. You cannot win games if you don't win battles.”

In the third period down by two goals, the Coyotes came up flat and were unable to turn the momentum in their favor leading to yet another loss.

Staying disciplined has been a recurring theme for Arizona all season long and Nick Bjugstad was not shying away from that topic postgame.

“We've spent a lot of time in the box this year, and it's cost us,” Bjugstad said. “Situations like that, we have to find ways to kill it, obviously. I'm guilty, we're all guilty in this room of taking penalties.”

It’s frustrating to see the Coyotes put two great performances together after overcoming a 14-game losing streak and then suddenly perceive to falter against arguably the least talented team in the NHL.

The effort was just not there from the Coyotes and they know that, but this young team continues to learn through these painful losses.

“We know in this room when we're playing good, and how to play good, and a lot of it comes down to effort,” Bjugstad said. “There's a lot of learning going on in this room, for sure.”

The Coyotes will be back in action on Thursday night against the Minnesota Wild.