The Coyotes really held their own against the Stars and escaped with a point after falling 4-3 in overtime.
While some may say there are no moral victories in sports, the Coyotes were just dealt one as they lost 4-3 in overtime to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night but not without a fight.
The Coyotes are in the middle of what is a five game-road trip. They came into this game with a 1-1 through the trip losing to the St. Louis Blues the first night but responded with a 7-5 victory over the Nashville Predators.
The Coyotes needed a quick goal and they got one 5:33 minutes into the game from Clayton Keller off of a bad defensive zone turnover by the Stars for his seventh of the year putting Arizona up 1-0.
By the end of the first period, the score was 1-1 after Esa Lindell scored for Dallas late in the period.
Despite giving up a Roope Hintz goal and trailing 2-1 after the first 40 minutes of play, the Coyotes were really holding their own against one of the best teams in the Western Conference and by watching, it was clear they were not just going to give up.
In the third period, the Coyotes took off. First, Matias Maccelli showed off his phenomenal play making skills on the power play, finding Jason Zucker who tied the game.
Just a couple minutes later Lawson Crouse found the back of the net continuing his red hot offensive spree and giving Arizona a 3-2 lead with just a few minutes to play.
The crowd went silent and it seemed the Coyotes had the victory in their grasps. Unfortunately, a defensive breakdown led to a Tyler Seguin goal, helping send this game to overtime.
The overtime period did not last long to the despair of the Coyotes as Matt Duchene scored quickly crushing Arizona’s hopes of an upset win.
Despite the loss, the Coyotes should be proud of this performance and hold their heads up high. They successfully battled it out against the best team in the Central Division and were minutes away from beating them on their home ice.
The Coyotes were in the game all night and at certain points were actually outplaying Dallas but it was a couple bad defensive breakdowns that was ultimately the cause of their demise.
Arizona still comes out of Dallas with a point and some positive things to reflect on going into Columbus to face the Blue Jackets on Thursday night.