To start off another week, the Arizona Coyotes started their week on the road as they were set to play the Toronto Maple Leafs. Coyotes’ Brendan Perlini got the Desert Dogs on the board first with a Power Play goal short-side on Fredrick Andersen. That would conclude the scoring for the 1st period, but by the 2nd period, the Maple Leafs’ James Van Reimsdyke put one home off a rebound to tie the game at 1, but with a late power play in the 2nd period, defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson wristed one from the point to put the Yotes up 2-1. That would be the end of the 2nd period. With no scoring for 16 minutes of the 3rd period, Maple Leafs Auston Matthews wristed one into the net to tie the game at 2, but Arizona would challenge the play for goalie interference and it was determined that Leafs’ Zach Hyman’s stick would spear Coyotes’ goalie Antti Raanta which would reverse the call to put the game back to a 2-1 Coyotes lead, that moment would turn out to be a major turning point as the Coyotes managed to score two empty net goals from Max Domi and Tobias Reider; propelling the Coyotes to a 4-1 victory. The story of this game would be Brendan Perlini as he has been heating up recently and this game was just the beginning.
After a 4-game road trip, the Coyotes would return home to face the San Jose Sharks. San Jose would get off to a quick start as they managed to shut down the Coyotes offensively for two periods and score two goals of their own from Joe Thornton and Logan Couture to put the Sharks up 2-0 after two periods. The Coyotes did manage to get a goal in the 3rd period from none other than Brendan Perlini; making it a 2-1 game, but the Sharks would score on an empty net wit a goal from Joel Ward to put the game away and win the game 3-1.
With Thanksgiving off, the Coyotes would be right back at it the next day to take on their Pacific Division rivals, the Los Angeles Kings. Mid-way through the first, Coyotes’ Oliver Ekman-Larsson would slap in a goal on the power play to put the Coyotes up 1-0. The Kings would answer back with a redirected goal from Anze Kopitar to tie the game at 1. 14 minutes would go by until the Coyotes would answer back with a redirected goal of their own from, guess who? Brendan Perlini. The Coyotes would carry the 2-1 lead over into the 3rd period until Kings’ Trevor Lewis would crash the net sending the puck into the net, before the net was knocked off. The game would be tied at 2 and would require overtime. The Coyotes hard work would pay off as a shot from Christian Dvorak would squeak through Kings’ goalie Darcey Keumper where Coyotes’ Christian Fischer would tap the puck in, giving the Coyotes a 3-2/OT win. With 4 wins from the last 5 games, the Coyotes appear to be finding their way.
The last game of the week would be another home game matchup between the Coyotes and the Vegas Golden Knights. With a scoreless 1st period the Golden Knights would score 3 unanswered goals in 3 minutes. Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Brendan Perlini would cue the comeback as the Coyotes got the score to 3-2, but Vegas would score on the empty net and that would conclude the game with a 4-2 Vegas win.
Brendan Perlini and Oliver Ekman-Larsson are starting to find their game with goals coming left and right. Can they keep up their recent success or possibly help other players find their game? The next game will be against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday in Edmonton.
