The Coyotes lost to the Ducks 5-4 last night.
First things first: That was the most exciting Coyotes game I've seen, maybe ever. From the first puck drop, to the final minute, it was a game worth watching. And not just because there were nine goals - it was a fast, fun game and the Coyotes have about 12 players worth watching.
BUT
They were totally robbed.
It was 4-1 with 30 minutes left to go in the game, but it was not to be due to terrible reffing, a terrible person, and bad goaltending.
With the Coyotes up by three and just under ten minutes left in the second, the NHL's dirtiest player and just all-round dirtbag Corey Perry crashed into the goalie behind the net.
It was a blatant case of goalie interference, and Perry got two minutes for it. But what he didn't get penalized for was the cross-check to Ekman-Larsson's face. There is no plausible explanation for why he wasn't kicked out of the game for intent to injure, let alone why he only received one penalty.
So instead of a two-man advantage for a full two minutes, the Coyotes only got the single PP, to say nothing of the Major Penalty the Ducks should have been killing off.
As these go, the non-call rattled the young team (predictably) and the Ducks made a game of it. Worse though, is that right before they tied it, Anthony Duclair rang it off the post in what should/could have been the winning goal.
Such is hockey.
But man, that Perry hit changed the whole game. After the hit, the Coyotes lost some of their powers and Domingue completely lost focus. Prior to that he allowed only 1 goal on nearly 30 shots. After, he was letting in some pretty soft ones, including the winner which his own mother could have saved.
And not to put too fine of a point on it, but the guy who should have been in the dressing room watching on TV scored just a minute or two after emerging from the penalty box. And then because he's the classiest guy in town, of course he chirps Domingue after he scores.
Ah well. Still a good game. Even if the Ducks owned the third period like a boss.
Goligoski had three points, Keller was a revelation as the team's best player (or forward at least) and overall it was just a really good game. I would have liked to see Strome and Perlini get a bit more ice time, but they went a long way to earning last night, posting a 55% CF and getting a few chances.
There were also at least three times when the announcer complimented him for a good move (I think all three were keeping pucks in).
Overall, good start. The loss comes with an asterisk and hopefully Raanta is back soon.
Oh, one last thing about Keller. Overall, he was well below 50% in possession, however, for 8 of his 14 minutes he had to face Josh Manson and Jacub Silfverberg, which is one of the best defensive 1-2 punches any team in the NHL can throw at you. They kept Keller to 41%, but when he faced anyone else, he jumped to nearly 60%.
Not many teams will be able to throw two elite defensive players at him, so this bodes well, as does basically everything about last nights game.
Ten Stars!