Arizona 5, Florida 1
When: 9:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 5, 2016
Where: Gila River Arena, Glendale, Arizona
Referees:
Dean Morton, Francois St. Laurent
Linesmen:
Steve Miller, Kiel Murchison
Attendance:
14825
By The Sports Xchange
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Alex Tanguay understands that his stay in Arizona will likely be a short one. He is 36 and the Coyotes are in the midst of a youth movement, so the recent trade deadline acquisition is on an audition of sorts.
Tanguay's audition got off to a terrific start in his Coyotes debut. Playing on a line with fellow French-Canadians Antoine Vermette and Anthony Duclair, Tanguay scored two goals and added an assist in a 5-1 win over the Florida Panthers on Saturday at Gila River Arena.
"Honestly, I had zero legs in the first period, I was extremely nervous and I couldn't catch my breath out there because I didn't get much sleep this afternoon," Tanguay said. "I got a little lucky tonight. My teammates played great and gave me the puck in great opportunities."
Shane Doan and Jordan Martinook also scored for Arizona, Vermette had a goal and three assists and Louis Domingue made 32 saves as the Coyotes (28-31-6) snapped a season-high seven-game losing streak.
Aaron Ekblad scored for Florida (36-21-8), which hasn't won in Arizona since the 1999-2000 season (eight losses, one tie). Al Montoya had 21 saves for the Panthers, who went 1-3-1 on their five-game road trip and have fallen out of first place in the Atlantic Division.
"We had a real good first period," said Florida coach Gerard Gallant, whose team went 0 of 5 on the power play. "I thought Domingue played really well for them. We had some chances on our power play and didn't connect on any of those and it cost us the hockey game."
Arizona took a 1-0 lead 29 seconds into the second period on a Florida power play. Martinook picked Reilly Smith's pocket in the neutral zone and took off on a breakaway. Martinook found the upper corner with a precise snap shot to beat Montoya for Arizona's second short-handed goal this season.
"That was a real good effort play," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. "We didn't have a real good first period and then Marty came out and set the tone with that in the second period and it got us going."
The Coyotes widened the lead to 2-0 when Vermette dumped a puck in deep and then fished it out of the corner. Vermette found Tanguay streaking toward the far post and fed him in stride for a tap-in at 5:36 of the second period.
The Panthers cut the lead to 2-1 at 17:28 of the second period when left winger Jussi Jokinen threaded a cross-ice pass through two defenders to defenseman Aaron Ekblad for a one-timer that beat goalie Louis Domingue inside the far post.
Doan restored the two-goal lead when he swept in a backhand of Oliver Ekman-Larsson's shot from the point just 1:36 into the third period.
Tanguay scored his second goal of the night on a tic-tac-toe passing play from Duclair and Vermette to make it 4-1 at 5:35. Vermette closed the scoring with 23 seconds left in the game.
"We just can't seem to put together a full 60 minutes right now," Panthers center Nick Bjugstad said. "We've got to figure to out and find ways to get dirty goals in this league. We've got t move on and start mentally prepping."
NOTES: LW Alex Tanguay made his Coyotes debut after missing Thursday's game with a knee sprain. Arizona acquired Tanguay along with two prospects in a trade-deadline deal for RW Mikkel Boedker. ... Coyotes C Boyd Gordon returned to the lineup after missing the last 13 games with a fractured hand, suffered when he blocked a shot on Feb. 4 against Chicago. ... Coyotes D Zbynek Michalek returned to the lineup after a one-game absence with a lower-body injury. ... Coyotes LW Max Domi served a one-game suspensions for an instigator penalty from the final five minutes in Thursday's game against Anaheim. ... The Coyotes recalled G Marek Langhamer and reassigned G Niklas Treutle to Springfield of the AHL. ... Recently acquired Panthers RW Teddy Purcell and LW Jiri Hudler made their debuts after missing the previous game with visa issues. ... Panthers G Al Montoya made his NHL debut with the Coyotes on April 1, 2009, posting a shutout at Colorado.
Top Game Performances
| Florida |
|
Arizona |
|
Aaron Ekblad 1 |
Points |
Antoine Vermette 4 |
|
Aaron Ekblad 1 |
Goals |
Alex Tanguay 2 |
|
Aleksander Barkov 1 |
Assists |
Antoine Vermette 3 |
|
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
Shane Doan 1 |
|
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
Jordan Martinook 1 |
|
Al Montoya .808 |
Save Percentage |
Louis Domingue .970 |
|
Al Montoya 21 |
Saves |
Louis Domingue 32 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| Florida
|
33 |
1 |
0-5 |
2-3 |
13 |
22 |
| Arizona
|
26 |
5 |
1-3 |
5-5 |
17 |
37 |
Upcoming Games
-
Arizona will play their next game on the road against Colorado. The Coyotes have a W/L % of .481 after a win and .395 after a loss.
-
Florida will play their next game at home against Boston. The Panthers have a W/L % of .639 after a win and .448 after a loss.
For more information, contact us