Hurricanes get off to fast start, extend Coyotes' skid

Field Level Media|published: Sat Feb 17 2024 05:14
Jan 2, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour watches his team against the New York Rangers during the third period at Madison Square Garden. credits: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports

Pyotr Kochetkov made 30 saves as the Carolina Hurricanes handed the Arizona Coyotes their eighth straight loss with a 5-1 victory on Friday night in Tempe, Ariz.

Jordan Martinook, Jalen Chatfield, Seth Jarvis, Teuvo Teravainen and Michael Bunting each scored goals and Jack Drury and Martin Necas each added two assists for Carolina, which moved into sole possession of second place in the Metropolitan Division with its sixth win in the last eight games. The Hurricanes also improved to 15-2-2 in their last 19 games against the Coyotes.

Dylan Guenther scored for Arizona. Karel Vejmelka made 21 saves before departing with 13:39 remaining in the third period. Matt Villalta, an All-Star with Tucson in the AHL, made his NHL debut and stopped all four shots that he faced.

Carolina needed just 16 seconds to take a 1-0 lead when Martinook backhanded in a rebound of a Brady Skjei shot from the left point for his eighth goal of the season. It was tied for the fifth-fastest game-opening goal in Hurricanes team history.

Chatfield made it 2-0 at the 4:50 mark when he fired in a wraparound pass from Necas into an open right side of the net.

Guenther cut it to 2-1 near the end of the period when he rushed up the right wing and beat Kochetkov with a wrist shot past his blocker side.

Jarvis increased the Carolina lead to 3-1 at the 6:28 mark of the second period when he one-timed an errant outlet pass from the left circle for his 17th goal.

Teravainen extended the lead to 4-1 with a power-play goal, tapping in a backdoor rebound of a Drury shot inside the right post for his 17th goal at 17:16 of the second period.

Bunting made it 5-1 early in the third period with a spinning backhand rebound in the slot through Vejmelka's pads to finish the scoring.

—Field Level Media

home