TEMPE, Ariz. — Lawson Crouse scored his second goal with 13.5 seconds left in the third period and the Arizona Coyotes returned home to end a 19-game losing streak to the Boston Bruins with a 4-3 victory Friday night.
The Coyotes returned from a 14-game road trip to play at Mullett Arena for the first time since Nov. 3. They got off to a great start when Josh Brown scored 23 seconds into the game and led 3-2 on Nick Schmatz’s third-period goal.
The NHL-leading Bruins tied it on Nick Foligno’s power-play goal with 5 1/2 minutes left, but Coyotes closed it out in the closing seconds after an icing was called off.
Boston Bruins defenseman Connor Clifton (75) skates with the puck against Arizona Coyotes center Travis Boyd (72) during the first period Friday in Tempe, Ariz. AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin
Boston goalie let the puck trickle across the line and Arizona rookie Matias Maccelli snatched it between two defenders, feeding Crouse for a one-timer.
Karel Vejmelka stopped 43 shots to help the Coyotes end a six-game losing streak.
David Pastrnak and Charlie Coyle each scored, and Jeremy Swayman had 12 saves for the Bruins.
Arizona left the desert for its elongated road trip to give Arizona State time to finish an annex at the 5,000-seat shared Mullett Arena.
The Coyotes got the trip off to a good start with three straight wins, but went 1-7-3 the rest of the way.
They wasted no time feeling comfortable back at their temporary home, scoring 23 seconds in when Brown shot through a passing screen and beat Swayman to the glove side.
Pastrnak tied it on a power play four minutes later, punching in a rebound during a wild scramble in front of Vejmelka.
Jakob Chychrun to have put Arizona up 2-1 on a power play early in the second period, but the officials upheld Boston’s challenge that the Coyotes were offside.
Boston then took the lead and this one counted when Coyle jammed in a rebound past Vejmelka from the edge of the crease.
The lead didn’t last long.
Crouse scored less than three minutes later by redirecting Shayne Gostisbehere’s shot from above the left circle, then Vejmelka stopped consecutive breakaways in less than a minute.
Schmaltz needed 53 seconds of the third period to put Arizona back up, beating Swayman after a pass from Clayton Keller.
NOTES: Arizona was without rookie Dylan Guenther, who was loaned to Team Canada for the world junior championships. … Boston is (10-1-1) against Western Conference teams this season. … Chychrun had an assist on Crouse’s goal for his 150th NHL point.
UP NEXT
Bruins: At Las Vegas on Sunday.
Coyotes: Host Philadelphia on Sunday.
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