Coyotes Game 5 Recap: Coyotes play 20 minutes, lose 5-2 to Senators

The Arizona Coyotes took two periods off and predictably fell to the Ottawa Senators.

Game Recap

The Arizona Coyotes have lost all but one of their games this season. This afternoon’s loss to the Ottawa Senators is probably their worst so far and has a chance of going down as the Desert Dog’s worst loss of the season.

Ottawa took an early lead, so the game seemed to proceed as expected. Shane Pinto got the Senators on the board less than five minutes in, and Josh Norris doubled it less than two minutes later. It was tough to watch, but it’s what we’ve come to expect this season.

Unfortunately, the Coyotes decided to give fans hope with a wild start to the second period.

Dylan Guenther scored his first NHL goal 100 seconds into the period after collecting a pass from Matias Maccelli and firing it home, putting the Coyotes on the board for the first time.

The goal was a power play goal thanks to a late first-period penalty from the Senators. Arizona’s power play has been surprisingly effective, and it was great to see it come alive again today, if only once.

Unfortunately, the Senators regained their two-goal lead, with Brady Tkachuk getting his third of the season not two minutes later, when they scored their first and only power play goal.

The Coyotes looked like they would make things interesting, with Clayton Keller getting his second of the season just 22 seconds later.

Keller’s shot bounced off a few Ottawa players before going into the net, the perfect dirty goal to motivate a team struggling to catch up.

That didn’t happen, and the score would remain 3-2 Ottawa as the second period expired. The Coyotes would have a golden opportunity on a late power play in the second, but they failed to produce much, and the period ended with the Yotes down by one.

The third period would be a repeat of the first, meaning it did not go well for the Desert Dogs. Ottawa scored three goals in less than six minutes, with Mark Kastelic, Tyler Motte, and Brady Tkachuk all lighting the lamp.

There is a lot of blame that needs to be spread around for the lackluster third period. Karel Vejmelka deserves a lot, and he should have frozen the puck before the Motte goal that gave the Senators a three-goal lead. But the team in front of him wasn’t exactly setting the world on fire, and we should ask why the Coyotes came out flat for a pivotal third period.

Thankfully, the Coyotes have just one more road game left before returning to home ice. Today’s game gave us Dylan Guenther’s first NHL goal, but you could easily burn the rest of the tape.

Lines

Three Stars

1. Brady Tkachuk – 2 goals
2. Tyler Motte – Goal and an assist
3. Dylan Guenther – First NHL goal

Next Game

The Coyotes will be back in action this Tuesday at 4 pm in Columbus.