GLENDALE
Custom Calgary Flames Jerseys , Ariz. (AP) — along with some gritty play from their teammates, gave the Arizona Coyotes a critical victory in their pursuit of a Western Conference wild card.Next up, the franchise’s most meaningful regular-season game in years.Cousins scored a power-play goal early in the third period and the Coyotes boosted their playoff chances Tuesday night, snapping a five-game losing streak with a 1-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.Kuemper made his 18th consecutive start and stopped 31 shots for his fourth shutout of the season. Arizona, which was 0-3-2 in its previous five games, most of those on a recent road trip, has won nine of 11 at home.The Coyotes moved into a tie with Colorado for the second wild card in the West at 81 points — though the Avalanche have a game in hand. They host Vegas on Wednesday before a critical head-to-head matchup with Arizona in Denver on Friday.“Friday night’s the most important game in the last what, I don’t know how many years. This is something that we’re looking forward to,” Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. “We’re having trouble scoring goals. We know that, and sometimes you have to win 1-0 and we did.”The Blackhawks
www.officialhurricanes.com , losers in three of four, were unable to gain ground on any of the four wild-card contenders in front of them in the standings. They remained at 76 points with six games left.Corey Crawford had 27 saves.“That one hurts. We needed that one,” coach Jeremy Colliton said. “We could have used a little extra urgency earlier on. We weren’t bad, but obviously, they score on the power play and we don’t. That’s the game.”It was the first of three consecutive games for Arizona against wild-card contenders, with Colorado and a Sunday home game against the Minnesota Wild still to come this week.“It’s fun. This is the time of year you want to be playing in, so it’s fun to be a part of,” Kuemper said. “We’re all enjoying it and just have to keep pushing.”The first two periods were scoreless, and the second featured only 12 shots on goal. Chicago got a power-play chance at 11:55 when Clayton Keller was whistled for interference, but Kuemper stopped shots by Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane to help the Coyotes kill the penalty.Lawson Crouse’s stick work and hustle drew a penalty on Brent Seabrook for tripping at 4:35 of the third, and the Coyotes got the goal they needed from Cousins at 5:40.Oliver Ekman-Larsson was credited with the assist
Carolina Hurricanes T-Shirts Authentic , passing to Cousins for a shot that Crawford saved before Cousins put in the rebound for his seventh goal of the season.“Going down the stretch here every game and every point is crucial for us, so it was nice to help contribute,” Cousins said.The Blackhawks had a few chances to draw even but couldn’t get the puck past Kuemper. One opportunity came from former Coyotes player Brendan Perlini with 9:35 to go, which Kuemper somehow turned away with a glove save.Crouse drew a late penalty with 1:47 left to give Arizona a man advantage. Crawford was pulled for the final 63 seconds, but the Coyotes ran out the clock.“We had some good chances late there to tie it up but just kind of snake-bitten a little bit,” Crawford said. “We did a lot of good things. We’ve shown we can play in those tight games, but we’ve just got to try and find a way to win that.”NOTES: The game featured several players on each side who were facing their former teams: Niklas Hjalmarsson, Richard Panik, Jordan Oesterle and Vinnie Hinostroza for Arizona, and Connor Murphy, Perlini and Dylan Strome for Chicago. … Hinostroza grabbed Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews in a scuffle in front of the Chicago net early in the second period
Carolina Hurricanes Hoodies Authentic , but no penalties were called. … Mario Kempe, Conor Garland and Ilya Lyubushkin were healthy scratches for the Coyotes.UP NEXTChicago: At the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.Arizona: At the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night. VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Bo Horvat’s nerves were frayed in the final seconds of Vancouver’s 4-0 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Monday night.The Canucks had a comfortable lead with just more than a minute to go when the center was called for interference. As he sat in the box, Horvat worried his penalty would spoil a clean sheet for goalie Jacob Markstrom.It didn’t. The 6-foot-6 Swede stopped all 29 shots by Anaheim for his first shutout of the season.“I felt so bad when (the penalty) happened,” said Horvat, who scored twice. “I was just so happy that he ended up getting the shutout there. I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself.”Alex Biega and Nikolay Goldobin also scored as the Canucks snapped a three-game skid and won in regulation for the first time in their last 11.“Big win,” Markstrom said. “We’ve been playing good but haven’t got the goals we wanted. Today I thought we played a really good game for 60 minutes and it shows on the board.”Kevin Boyle made 25 saves but the Ducks dropped their third in a row.“It weighs on you,” assistant coach Marty Wilford said. “We are all competitive people and everybody wants to win, so obviously it’s weighing on you and you can’t have that defeated mindset when you fall behind like, poor me I can’t come back. We just can’t accept losing.”Anaheim is nine points out of a playoff spot.“We are not going to feel sorry for ourselves or make excuses or let people make excuses for us,” center Devin Shore said. “It’s tough sledding but we’ve all been through situations where things don’t go your way and you can’t hope your way out of it
Carolina Hurricanes Hats Authentic , you have to work your way out of it.”The shutout was the third of Markstrom’s career. His previous one came against Dallas on Feb. 11, 2018.Canucks coach Travis Green didn’t realize his starting netminder hadn’t posted a shutout yet this season.“I didn’t even know that was his first, to be honest,” he said. “He’s had such a good year that he probably deserves a few more and you are happy for him.”The shutout was nice, Markstrom said, but the victory was a total team effort.“It means that we won the game,” he said. “It’s nice to get one, for sure, but that mirrors how we played defense and played the game.”One of Markstrom’s biggest saves came with nine minutes to go, when Derek Grant found the puck down low and Markstrom dove to make the stop.Horvat’s second goal of the night came midway through the third period after he dove to keep the puck in Anaheim’s end. Josh Leivo got it back to Horvat in the faceoff circle and he sent a rocket past Boyle to make it 4-0.The 23-year-old Horvat has a career-high 23 goals this season.“I’m far from the peak of my career,” he said. “I think I still have a lot of work to do
Custom Carolina Hurricanes Jerseys , a lot to improve on and I’m just trying to get better day by day.”Goldobin opened the scoring 8:04 into the first after star rookie Elias Pettersson sliced a cross-ice pass to him in the neutral zone. The right wing ripped a shot over Boyle’s shoulder for his eighth goal of the season and first in nine games.Goldobin has been in and out of the lineup this season as the coaching staff challenges him to work on his game away from the puck. It’s been a tough stretch, the right wing said, adding that he wants to stay with the Canucks.“I like this organization and I know coaches believe in me a lot. I like the guys here. I feel like I’m home here,” he said.Biega added another goal before the end of the period with a long shot that somehow wound its way through traffic and slid in under Boyle’s pad.Early in the second, Anaheim’s Brendan Guhle was sent to the penalty box for leveling Tyler Motte along the boards and the Canucks capitalized on the power play. Brock Boeser made a nifty pass to Horvat below the goal line and he poked it in to put Vancouver up 3-0.NOTES: Ryan Spooner got his first point with the Canucks, assisting on Biega’s goal. Vancouver acquired the 27-year-old forward in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers this month. … British Columbia native Angus Redmond was called up to the NHL for the first time Monday. The 23-year-old goalie backed up Doyle for the Ducks. … It was linesman Lonnie Cameron’s 1,500th game in the NHL. His milestone was celebrated before puck drop.UP NEXTDucks: Host the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night.Canucks: Begin a three-game road trip at Colorado on Wednesday.
