Coyotes beat Blue Jackets 3-2 in OT to extend streak

By JOHN MARSHALL
AP Sports Writer

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — The Arizona Coyotes coughed up a two-goal lead and allowed two breakaways in the final 30 seconds of regulation.

Connor Ingram got the saves on the breakaways. Barrett Hayton scored the goal in overtime.

Arizona’s longest points streak in a decade is still alive.

Hayton scored in overtime, Ingram stopped the breakaways and the Coyotes extended their points streak to nine games with a 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday night.

“Iggy came up big and he is feeling it right now,” Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said. “And I think that’s a team. It’s not about who gets the credit as long as the team is playing well.”

Arizona jumped out to an early lead on first-period goals by Travis Boyd and Nick Schmaltz.

Boone Jenner ended Ingram’s scoreless streak at 147 minutes with a second-period goal. The last-place Blue Jackets picked up the pressure in the third period and Patrick Laine tied the game on a power play with five minutes left.

Ingram stopped a good chance in overtime after the two breakaways and finished with 34 saves. Hayton ended it two minutes into overtime, beating Elvis Merzlikins on a pass from Matias Maccelli to give the Coyotes their longest points (5-0-4) streak since a 12-game run in 2012.

“We cleaned up some things in practice coming off the break, some breakout stuff,” Hayton said after his first overtime winner. “Our power play has been pretty good as of late, so I think those two things we just dialed in.”

The Coyotes rallied from a four-goal deficit against the Los Angeles on Saturday night, earning a point in the 6-5 shootout loss.

Columbus also played Saturday night, beating the West-leading Dallas Stars 4-1.

The Coyotes had plenty of jump early in the short turnaround and Boyd scored late in the first period, redirecting a pass from Troy Stecher past Merzlikins.

Schmaltz scored a little over two minutes later, beating Merzlikins to the glove side after a shot by Keller caromed hard off the back boards. Schmaltz has eight goals and seven assists his last 11 games.

Obviously, you want to have a little better start and a couple of the recent games we haven’t had a good start,” Jenner said. “But we found our game in the second and third.”

Ingram was sharp in the first period and made some tough saves through traffic as the Coyotes killed off two penalties. He had no chance late in the second when a shot by Jenner appeared to pinball off several players into the goal, ending his scoreless streak at 147 minutes, 8 seconds.

Laine tied it on a pass from Adam Boqvist, firing a shot from the left circle before Ingram could slide over. Columbus couldn’t finish it off, but earned a point for the fourth time in five games.

“We played two solid periods,” Columbus coach Brad Larsen said. “They’re a dangerous team. You give them a little bit of room 3 on 3 and they made us pay for it.”

TESTY NIGHT

Whether it was the teams getting tired of each other or the short turnaround, Sunday’s game got real testy.

It started at the opening faceoff of the second period when Columbus defenseman Erik Gudbranson and Coyotes defenseman Josh Brown dropped the gloves.

It went on quite a while.

Both players landed numerous punches in the fight that lasted over minute. It ended when they both grew tired from all the punching and the officials stepped in.

Columbus’ Mathieu Olivier and Nick Ritchie also landed some good punches in a shorter fight late in regulation, and player had to be separated numerous times.

“I really like the way it happened because it happened organically and the guys wanted to take care of their teammates,” Tourigny said. “Kudos to Browny and kudos to Nick Ritchie. I think the way Ritch reacted was really, really good.”

NOTES: Merzlikins stopped 22 shots. … Columbus leading scorer Johnny Gaudreau missed his second straight game due to a lower-body injury. … Coyotes C Liam O’Brien and D JJ Moser each played in their 100th career NHL game, as did Columbus RW Mathieu Olivier. … Coyotes D Shayne Gostisbehere returned after missing eight games with an upper-body injury.

UP NEXT

Blue Jackets: Host Minnesota on Thursday.

Coyotes: Host Calgary on Wednesday.

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