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Coyotes’ early turnovers sinks them in 5-3 loss to Bruins

© Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

The Arizona Coyotes produced a late comeback bid, but ultimately fell 5-3 to the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Dec. 9.

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With only one shot for 7:17 of the first period against the Philadelphia Flyers on Dec. 7, Arizona flipped the script from their last game and their offense came out buzzing with eight shots in the initial 6:00 against Boston.

On the other hand, the ‘Yotes later were on a 5-on-3 penalty kill following two infractions by center Nick Bjugstad and defenseman Sean Durzi.

Boston had a few opportunities, but couldn’t take advantage while the Coyotes were down two men.

As the game continued, a similar theme of Arizona losing the puck and making costly turnovers rolled over from the Flyers game to Massachusetts.

Bruins star David Pastrňák pounced on ‘Yotes defenseman Juuso Välimäki who had possession, and buried his 15th goal of the season to give Boston a 1-0 lead.

Then, Durzi would try to make a no-look pass, but the attempt fell right onto the tape of Bruins’ Trent Frederic.

Instantly, Frederic found teammate Charlie Coyle in front of Arizona goaltender Connor Ingram for a cross-crease pass to tap-in and all of a sudden, the Coyotes were down 2-0.

In the second period, there were four goals scored in 9:22 of play as the Desert Dogs tried to claw back.

To begin, Bruins defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk and Coyotes forwards Clayton Keller and Michael Carcone all scored 1:22 apart.

Furthermore, Bruins left wing Danton Heinen created another Arizona turnover, cut into the slot and fired the puck to the right corner of the net to restore their two-goal advantage, 4-2.

Later on, ‘Yotes center Logan Cooley would be shaken up from a hit by Boston defenseman Brandon Carlo, but remained in the contest.

Moving forward to the final-20 minutes of regulation, Arizona came out of the intermission pressuring the Bruins as they had all the momentum.

Eventually, Coyotes left wing Lawson Crouse scooped the puck over the left pad of Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark as he cut the Desert Dogs’ deficit to 4-3.

Ullmark continued to shutdown multiple chances with a late surge from the Coyotes.

However, Pastrňák continued his dominant performance by getting his second goal of the game with 5:31 remaining and sealed Boston’s victory, 5-3.

Postgame Stats

  • Goaltending – Ingram (AZ): 24/29 saves, 5 goals against| Ullmark (BOS): 31/34 saves, 3 GA
  • Points – 7 players (AZ): tied with 1 | Pastrňák (BOS): 2 goals, 1 assist, 3 points
  • Blocks – D Travis Dermott (AZ): 3 | Coyle (BOS): 3
  • Hits – (AZ): 18 | (BOS): 23
  • Power-play – Coyotes: 0/5 | Bruins: 1/3

Arizona fought back in the third period, but Ullmark was the story late and Pastrňák’s three-point sealed the deal for the Bruins.

On Carcone’s goal, that was his 13th of the season (team high).

Additionally, the Coyotes fell to 13-11-2 on the season, dropping their second consecutive contest.

With his standout display, Pastrňák now has 39 points on the season, the second-most in the NHL.

Onto to their next game, the ‘Yotes will head to Buffalo, New York to face the Sabres on Dec. 11 at 5 p.m. MST.

Defenseman Sean Durzi returns for Coyotes vs. Bruins

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

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