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Coyotes’ defense crumbled late in 4-3 overtime defeat to Stars

© Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

After taking the lead late in the third period, the Arizona Coyotes (7-6-2) gave-up a tying goal before regulation ending and giving up another in overtime as they fell 4-3 to the Dallas Stars (11-3-1) at American Airlines Center in Texas on Nov. 14.

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Coming into the contest, Arizona came out on-top in a 12-goal thriller, 7-5 against the Nashville Predators on Nov. 11.

On the other hand, the Stars are currently the best team in the Central Division and went all the way to the Western Conference Finals last postseason after posting a record of 47-21-14 and collecting 108 points.

Previously, Dallas crushed the Minnesota Wild 8-3 on Nov. 12 to maintain a three-game winning streak.

Knowing that they had to compete against a NHL juggernaut like the Stars, the Coyotes needed to keep their defense compact and stay out of the penalty box.

Both of which happened early, but crumbled later on.

First Period

A few small opportunities were created, but for the majority of the first period, the play was at center ice.

Then, Stars center Matt Duchene had a breakaway opportunity as he would burn past two Coyotes defenders.

However, before Duchene was able to cut in front of Coyotes goaltender Karel Vejmelka, Vejmelka stuck his right leg pad out and got a chunk of the puck.

Going the other way, the puck flung out and Arizona had a 3-on-2 opportunity in the Stars’ zone.

The teams would go into the right corner of the boards before Arizona center Barrett Hayton picked the puck up and gave it teammate Clayton Keller in the slot.

There, Keller waited out Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger before going blocker-side and scoring to make it 1-0 ‘Yotes 5:33 into the game.

Following the goal, Vejmelka made a couple key saves to negate further chances by the Stars.

But, Dallas eventually broke through as defenseman Esa Lindell shot low on Vejmelka, who was far out of the goal crease, and tied the game 1-1 with 2:08 left in the first period.

Despite the late push by the Stars, they only outshot Arizona 12-11 at period’s end.

Second Period

Same as the beginning of the first, the middle frame would have minimal threats to either Oettinger or Vejmelka.

A key for Coyotes was to stay out of the penalty box tonight as much as possible.

After only one infraction to start, that objective was came to an end in the second period and Dallas punished Arizona because of it.

First, Coyotes defenseman Juuso Välimäki hooked Stars center Radek Faksa and sent Dallas to the power-play 9:32 in.

0:10 later, Dallas center Roope Hintz won a face-off before left wing Jason Robertson picked up the puck.

Quickly, Robertson sent the puck to defenseman Miro Heiskanen before Heiskanen whipped the puck to Hintz for a one-timer and scored to give the Stars a 2-1 lead.

It wasn’t until the final moments of the period where Dallas had a golden opportunity to score, but Vejmelka did the splits and got across the crease in-time to make a save.

Illustrating that the period didn’t have much to it, Dallas only had 7 shots compared to 3 from Arizona.

Third Period

To begin the third and final period of regulation, Välimäki endured a freakish accident.

Trying to block a shot, a puck struck Välimäki straight to the face.

Immediately, the ‘Yotes defenseman went down on the ice and bled before skating directly to the locker-room.

Moving on, the offensive pressure from the Stars continued to pour as Arizona found it difficult to get the puck out of their zone.

To interrupt Dallas’ momentum, defenseman Ryan Suter received an interference penalty.

On the power-play, Arizona left wing Matias Maccelli skated straight towards the net from the left.

As he edged closer to the goal-line, Maccelli found teammate Jason Zucker ready for a shot and passed it to him before Zucker buried it to tie the game 2-2 with 7:49 on the clock in the third.

That goal formulated absolute chaos as the period was inching closer to the end.

In the Coyotes zone, a poor turnover by the Stars gifted ‘Yotes defenseman Sean Durzi the puck to clear it.

Breaking out of the zone, Arizona left wing Lawson Crouse called for a pass before bolting on a breakaway towards Oettinger.

Evading a poke check by Oettinger, Crouse went to his backhand and buried it to help the Coyotes grab the lead, 3-2 with 5:34 remaining in regulation.

However, due to a defensive breakdown, Dallas center Tyler Seguin had himself a breakaway before knotting the game up again, 3-3 with 3:20 left.

At the buzzer again, Stars right wing/center Joe Pavelski was robbed by the left pad of Vejmelka to push the game to overtime.

Overtime and Postgame Notes

Just 0:42 into OT, Seguin and Duchene had a 2-on-1 opportunity.

Sealing the game, Duchene tapped home a pass from Seguin to give Dallas the win, 4-3.

To conclude, the Stars outshot the ‘Yotes 34-26.

Furthermore, Dallas went 1-for-4 on the power-play while Arizona were 1-for-2.

Additionally, the Coyotes had more hits than the Stars, 16-12.

Despite the loss, Vejmelka kept Arizona in the game with multiple, crucial saves as he tried to weather to the storm that Dallas put on the “Desert Dogs.”

In the end, Vejmelka made 30 stops on 34 attempts from the Stars.

Oppositely, Oettinger saved 23 of the 26 shots he faced.

Both Seguin and Duchene had a goal and an assist for two points to lead Dallas in scoring tonight.

Now, the Coyotes fall to 7-6-2 on the year with 16 points, but remain in fifth place in the Central Division.

Next up, Arizona travel to Columbus to go to war with the Blue Jackets on Nov. 16 at 5 p.m.

Arizona Coyotes at Dallas Stars Preview: A Tough Challenge Awaits

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Alec Cipollini is an insider of the Arizona Coyotes and Cardinals for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account @AlecCipollini

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