The Carolina Hurricanes made landfall in Tempe on Friday night to take on the Arizona Coyotes, and from early on, it was all Hurricanes – all night.
Carolina began the onslaught less than:20 seconds in when Jordan Martinook netted his ninth of the season due to a puck mishandle by Karel Vejmelka, and the Hurricanes jumped out to an early lead, 1-0, assisted by Jordan Staal.
Just under four and a half minutes later, Jalen Chatfield locked away his fifth goal of the season, with Martin Necas grabbing his first of three points on the evening while Jack Drury grabbed his 15th assist on the season, 2-0.
With under six minutes on the clock in the first period, the Coyotes grabbed one back when Dylan Guenther grabbed a neutral zone turnover and converted it into a lead-slicing goal heading into intermission, 2-1.
The Coyotes started the 2nd period on the power play after Brady Skjei was assessed a tripping minor at the end of the first. Nothing came of the opportunity, the first of three power plays the Coyotes had on the night.
Seth Jarvis expanded the Hurricanes lead 6:28 into the second on an unassisted goal, sniping a shot over Vejmelka’s blocker, 3-1.
Teuvo Teravainen sent a lost puck past Vejmelka under 10 minutes later to expand the Hurricanes lead to 4-1, with Necas grabbing his second point of the night Skjei making up for his penalty, nabbing the secondary assist.
Ex-Coyote Michael Bunting made his presence known, by tricking a puck through Vejmelka’s legs. Necas grabbed his third point of the night, and Drury found the scoresheet again with the secondary.
Vejmelka was pulled with 13:39 to play in the game as Matthew Villalta slid in between the pipes.
Coyotes Head Coach Andre Tourigny said he put Villalta in to allow him to “get his feet wet a little bit and have a feel for the game.”
Villalta expressed personal gratitude to get the moment and said it was a “cool moment” for himself to see ice time tonight.
Seeing the opportunity was “overall a good feeling” for Villalta, who “tried to get a bit sweaty” using “mental cues” and was ready to “get-er going and fire it up” when his number was called.
Villalta started the season with the Coyotes minor league affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners who, despite an 8-1 loss on Friday, sit second in the AHL’s Pacific Division.
“We got a pretty special group,” Villalta said. “We’re all just having a lot of fun down there, and obviously, when you’re winning hockey games, that’s a lot more fun too.”
Villalta continued to express his gratitude for the situation in Tucson by saying he was “honored to have the opportunity to have a starting role in Tucson” and credited the team for his 2.58 goals against average and .913 save percentage.
“The boys have been playing great and have been making me look good.”
Despite chances being created, on offensive breakouts leading to odd-man rushes, the Coyotes were unable to convert in the third, and Carolina ships out to off to Vegas for night two of a back-to-back, meeting the Golden Knights on Saturday.
The Coyotes have Saturday off before a back-to-back with the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena, then hosting the Edmonton Oilers in a Monday afternoon matinee.
