Kuemper, Coyotes shut out skidding Avs


Reuters | Arizona | Updated: 03-11-2019 09:27 IST | Created: 03-11-2019 09:20 IST
Kuemper, Coyotes shut out skidding Avs
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Darcy Kuemper stopped all 33 shots he faced Saturday night to record his first shutout of the season for the host Arizona Coyotes, who cruised to a 3-0 win over the reeling Colorado Avalanche. Christian Dvorak and Phil Kessel scored in the first period, and Conor Garland all added a goal in the second for the Coyotes, who have won three of four and seven of nine. The shutout was the 17th of Kuemper's career and his first since he made 39 saves against the Minnesota Wild on March 31.

Pavel Francouz made 25 saves for the Avalanche, who have lost four in a row (0-3-1) since an 8-1-1 start. Colorado, which lost to the Dallas Stars on Friday night, has been outscored 14-6 in the losing streak. Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon's 15-game point streak to open the season -- the longest in the NHL -- was snapped. He had four shots.

The Coyotes scored the only goal they'd need on the power play 6:40 into the first. Kessel's shot was deflected by Francouz, but the Avalanche goalie could not clear the puck, and it remained in the crease long enough for Dvorak to swoop in behind Colorado defenseman Ian Cole and put the rebound back underneath Francouz's pad. A faceoff win by Dvorak deep in the Avalanche zone led to Kessel's goal a little more than nine minutes later. After Dvorak's win, the puck ended up with Coyotes center Barrett Hayton, who was stationed behind the Avalanche's net. Hayton tucked a between-the-legs pass to Kessel, who was parallel to the net when he flicked a shot off of Francouz and into the net with 4:08 left.

The Avalanche outshot the Coyotes 17-3 in the second period, but Arizona scored the only goal exactly 20 minutes after its previous tally. As a power play -- generated by a hooking penalty on Erik Johnson -- was expiring, Nick Schmaltz shuffled the puck long enough for Avalanche center Tyson Jost to slide in an attempt to block a possible shot. Schmaltz then fired across the ice to Garland, who went to one knee and fired the puck past Francouz, who was stuck leaning in the other direction.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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