The Wrap: Coyotes Battle Back but Fall to Red Wings in Shootout

STATS
Jakob Chychrun tied the game with 25 seconds left, and Nick Schmaltz and J.J. Moser also scored, but the Arizona Coyotes' rally fell just short, dropping a 4-3 game to the Detroit Red Wings in a shootout on Friday.
The Coyotes (7-9-3) have earned at least a point in three straight games.
Karel Vejmelka made 33 saves in the loss, while Schmaltz finished with three points. Chychrun also enjoyed a two-point game -- the 23rd multi-point game of his career.
Andrew Copp, Filip Hronek, and Jordan Oesterle each scored for Detroit (11-5-4), which won its fourth straight. Ville Husso made 20 saves, and Dylan Larkin scored the only goal of the shootout to secure the Red Wings victory.

The Coyotes finished 0-for-4 on the power play, though Chychrun's equalizer came seconds after their final opportunity with the man advantage had expired.
"The boys are battling hard, sticking with it," said Chychrun, who scored for the first time since March 10. "We're in all these games here, and that's all you can ask for."

Though the Coyotes have earned four out of a possible six points on the third leg of their 14-game road trip, head coach André Tourigny said there were no moral victories in the locker room after the game.
"It's four points out of six: the good thing, like I said, is we want to win badly," he said. "Now we're frustrated when we lose, when we don't find a way to get the two points. A year ago would probably be a celebration to get a point on the road, or to have four points out of six."
The Red Wings capitalized on special teams, finishing 2-for-4 on the power play.
Copp opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 12:01 of the first period, chipping home a puck that was originally blocked by defenseman Juuso Valimaki.

Hronek put the Red Wings up 2-0 with another power-play goal, rocketing a slapshot past Vejmelka just four minutes into the second period.

Schmaltz cut the Red Wings' lead in half after he redirected Chychrun's shot past Husso, but Oesterle -- who played with the Coyotes from 2018-19 through 2020-21 - restored Detroit's two-goal lead just 28 seconds later.
Moser took a perfect feed from Clayton Keller and ripped a one-timer from the top of the right circle to cut the Red Wings' lead to 3-2 with 4:29 to play in the middle frame, setting up Chychrun's late-game heroics.

Keller now has 20 points in just 19 games this season.
Vejmelka made a number of saves down the stretch to ensure the Coyotes had a chance to tie the game, and even stopped a shot off his facemask as time expired in overtime.
Though Tourigny said he'd much prefer to keep the shot total down, the 26-year-old Vejmelka said he enjoys all the action. His .916 save percentage heading into the game ranked 13th in the league, and he posted a SV% of .917 on Friday.
"I feel pretty good," Vejmelka said. "I like a lot of shots during the game. It's a routine, but it's still my job, and I just do my best for us to win every game."
Arizona will play in Minnesota in a Sunday matinee, and the game will be broadcast on Bally Sports Arizona Extra (TV) and ESPN 620 AM (Radio). Puck drop is scheduled for noon MST.