It was the Arizona Coyotes that came out with a 4-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils in what was a statement game.
The Arizona Coyotes looked like a totally new and improved team as they rallied back to defeat the New Jersey Devils 4-3 in a shootout on Friday night.
Going into the season opener, not many would have picked the Coyotes to beat New Jersey, but that would not stop them.
Arizona came into the first period hungry as they dominated the Devils through the first 20 minutes of play.
The action started 6:22 minutes into the first period when Matt Dumba scored the first goal of the season for the Coyotes off of a beautiful feed from Clayton Keller. It was the Coyotes who continued to dominate play through the rest of the period, really setting the tempo.
It seemed all would be the same in the second period. Sean Durzi scored a goal on the power play 4:23 minutes into the second extending the Coyotes lead.
However, Arizona completely collapsed though the rest of the period, committing multiple penalties which led to three unanswered goals from the Devils which included two from forward Jesper Bratt.
All of the sudden, the Coyotes found themselves down 3-2 after seemingly just having a commanding lead.
To rally against this talented Devils team is no easy task but not impossible. The Coyotes calmed down and played more disciplined hockey to start the third period but the problem was, they still needed a goal.
That goal would ultimately come 13:55 minutes into the third. Enter Logan Cooley, the 2022 third overall pick. He already tallied his first NHL point earlier in the game and now with the puck on his stick on the power play he drew a few Devils defenders to him taking advantage, dishing the puck to Nick Schmaltz who buried it in to tie the game.
From that point on, Arizona played with a strong brand of hockey. The game went all the way into a shootout where coach André Tourigny was tasked with a difficult decision: who to bring in for the shoutout?
He gambled and went with Nick Bjugstad and Nick Schmaltz who both scored and with the help of goaltender Karel Vejmelka, ended victorious.
It was really an all-around performance for the Coyotes. The offense looked fast playing to the level if not out performing the Devils prolific offense. Arizona’s defense stepped up specifically Dumba and Durzi who each had one goal. Vejmelka stood on his head all night tallying 33 saves giving Arizona a fighting chance to win.
There was so much talk on how this new-look Coyotes team would fare on the ice and they indeed looked leagues better than they did just one season ago.
The Coyotes stars came out to play as Keller, Cooley and Schmaltz all ended the game with two points helping lead the team to victory.
It’s just one game so let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet but this was a really promising performance that could very well be a sign of things to come.