*Photo from Yahoo! Sports*
There was simply no way they were going to lose in those jerseys. Nick Schmaltz had two assists, Clayton Keller picked up a hat trick, and the Arizona Coyotes defeated the Vegas Golden Knights with a 4-1 victory on Sunday night in Tempe.
On the back of Keller's second career hat trick, the Coyotes were able to score and win after being shut out in their last two games, giving the Coyotes just their second win in their last 13 games. At home, they are 9-7-2 at their temporary building in Mullett Arena.
Coyotes head coach Andre Tourigny said that "We're trending in the right direction. It’s a journey. You need to build your culture, your program, every day. The players know where we are going. That doesn’t mean it’s not frustrating. It is. We want it to be frustrating in the sense of we want our guys to be competitors and wanting to win every night. We need to build our foundation brick by brick."
Starting the scoring for the Coyotes was Dylan Guenther, who gave them a 1-0 lead just 1:59 into the game, the only goal of the first period. Only 1:39 into the second period, Keller scored to double the lead to 2-0. Phil Kessel got the Golden Knights on the board with a power play goal, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
At the 8:50 mark of the 3rd period, it was Keller again, scoring his second goal of the night and 17th of the season to put Arizona ahead 3-1, with Schmaltz and Juuso Valimaki assisting. Keller then capped off the hat trick with a goal at the 15:52 mark of the 3rd period, with Schmaltz getting the only credited assist.
Keller said of his hat trick that "It’s been tough last couple of games or so. It was nice to see some goals go in, too. Long season. You are going to go through tough times. Sometimes you don’t get the bounces you maybe deserve, and I think that’s something that I’ve learned playing in this league. Just not getting frustrated and sticking with it."
Getting the start in between the pipes for the Coyotes was Karel Vejmelka, who improved to 12-17-4 this season with a win. Vejmelka stopped 35 out of the 36 shots he faced from the Golden Knights, good for a stellar .972 save percentage.
In goal for the Golden Knights was Logan Thompson, who wasn't able to out battle Vejmelka. Thompson turned aside 19 out of the 22 shots on goal from the Coyotes, recording a .864 save percentage. His record drops to 19-13-1 with the loss.
Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb said of the loss that "We haven't been at our best, and we need to find some consistency in our game and capitalize on our opportunities and play well defensively. We've got some learning to do. We're in a bit of a funk right now."
Arizona returns to play on Tuesday night with a home showdown against the Anaheim Ducks, with Vejmelka projected to start. Vegas heads east for a matchup with the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, with Thompson the expected starter.
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