*Photo from Arizona Sports*
At long last, they finally did it. Nick Bjugstad scored, Jason Zucker had a goal and an assist, and the Arizona Coyotes defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 5-2 victory on Monday night in Tempe.
The Coyotes won their second straight game and their 4th in 10 games. Entering the game, they had a 11 game losing streak against the Penguins, which they were able to snap in large part thanks to Zucker, who had a multi point game against his old team.
Zucker scored the only goal of the first period, giving the Coyotes a 1-0 lead 2:23 into the game on his 7th goal of the season. Lars Eller scored 4:50 into the second period to get the Penguins on the board, tying the game 1-1. Juuso Valimaki scored his first goal of the season 11:04 into the period to make it 2-1 Coyotes.
Later in the second period, the Penguins tied the score again. At the 16:30 mark of the period, Sidney Crosby scored his 27th goal of the season to make it 2-2 with Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson assisting. Alex Kerfoot scored his 7th goal of the season with an assist from Zucker to put the Coyotes ahead 3-2.
Arizona was the benefactor of a Penguins mistake in the 3rd period. Kris Letang had a drop pass intended for Malkin, but Malkin couldn't get to it and the puck went in the net as there was a delayed penalty coming up on the Coyotes. The goal was credited to Lawson Crouse to make it a 4-2 lead for the Coyotes.
Later in the period, Bjugstad scored at the 7:10 mark of the 3rd to make it 5-2 Coyotes, getting assists from Liam O'Brien and Jack McBain.
Kerfoot said of his goal "That felt pretty good. Everybody knows that the break is coming up, and we’ve talked about playing hard and making sure we find ways to to win before the break."
Getting the start in net for the Coyotes was Connor Ingram, who was able to get the streak snapping win. Ingram stopped 25 of the 27 shots he faced from the Penguins, good for a .926 save percentage. His record now stands at 17-9-1.
Starting for the Penguins opposite Ingram was Tristan Jarry, who fell to a 12-14-4 record in 30 starts with the loss. Jarry turned aside 22 out of the 26 shots on goal the Coyotes sent his way, giving him a .846 save percentage.
Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said after the game that "Obviously, we’re disappointed with the last four periods, we recognize that it's not our best, but I don't think 'discouraged' is a word should enter our dressing room. I think we've just got to get more determined."
The Coyotes hit the road on Wednesday as they take on the Florida Panthers, with Ingram projected to start again. The Penguins get back in action against the Panthers as well, facing them on Friday with Jarry likely to start.
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