Jason Zucker‘s two point night against his former team helped propel the Arizona Coyotes past the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night.
Zucker opened the scoring 2:23 into the game after starting the rush from behind his own net and breaking into the Coyotes offensive zone, where Logan Cooley chipped a loose puck across the zone and Zucker lifted it over Tristan Jarry, 1-0 Coyotes.
Connor Ingram stopped all of the Penguins shots in the first, and the Coyotes took their 1-0 lead into the intermission.
The second frame hosted most of the game’s goals.
Lars Eller landed his 20th of the season after a neutral zone turnover by Nick Bjugstad was carried into the Penguins offensive zone by Pierre-Olivier Joseph. Eller grabbed the puck off a pass from Joseph and sent it towards the crease when it ricocheted off Jusso Valimaki and Josh Brown before finding its way past Ingram, tying the game at 1 after 4:50 had elapsed.
Valimaki found an open lane in the slot, where Clayton Keller laid a pass onto his stick, that Valimaki sent past Jarry 11:50 into the frame, 2-1 Coyotes.
Pittsburgh capitalized with 03 remaining on an Alex Kerfoot slashing penalty when Erik Karlsson returned the puck to Sidney Crosby just above the red line, who chipped it past Ingram, making it 2-2 with 3:30 to play in the period.
Kerfoot scored Arizona’s second of the period, after Jarry lost his footing in the crease, on a chip pass from Zucker that was originally set up on a dump into the zone by Lawson Crouse, 3-2 Coyotes with under 2:00 remaining in the middle period.
The Penguins blundered early in the third period, when Kris Letang net the puck on a backwards pass to Crosby, during a delayed penalty, adding to the Coyotes lead, and getting credited to Crouse, for his 18th goal on the season, 4-2 Coyotes.
Jack McBain set up the fifth and final goal on the night for the Coyotes on a pass that was gloved down just outside the Coyotes offensive zone by Liam O’Brien, who led Bjugstad through the Penguins defense with a backhand pass, setting him up for a 1-on-1 with Jarry that Bjugstad was the victor of, 5-2 Coyotes.
The Coyotes start a three game road trip on Wednesday, with the first of a Florida back-to-back against the reigning Eastern Conference Champion, Florida Panthers.
