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The Arizona Coyotes return home from a five-game road trip to face the Chicago Blackhawks in Tempe, Ariz., on Tuesday night with a much bigger smile on their faces than when they departed.
The Coyotes took five of a possible 10 points on the trip including back-to-back wins at Ottawa (5-3) and Washington (5-2) to end the trek. The win over the Senators snapped Arizona’s 14-game losing streak (0-12-2).
The Coyotes had been in contention for a Western Conference playoff spot before the long losing skid but now trail the Nashville Predators and Los Angeles Kings by 17 points for the two wild-card spots. Still, the long flight home on Sunday night was a lot more enjoyable after completing a two-game, season-series sweep of the Capitals.
“It feels great,” said Dylan Guenther, who had a goal and two assists at Washington. “I think we’ve been playing really well the last two weeks. Let’s keep this thing going. We’ve got some confidence right now. Let’s roll with it.”
Guenther also scored what proved to be the winning goal — a power-play tally in the third period — at Ottawa to snap the losing streak. He has five points in the past two games.
“I think it’s a good trip,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. “As weird as it sounds, our guys are in a pretty good zone.
“We felt we deserved better in a lot of those games. After the All-Star break we had a slow start, but we didn’t feel we were as bad as we had been. We know we’re a better team. We’re a good team. If we play well, we can beat anybody in the league.”
The Coyotes will play three games in four days on the homestand that concludes with a back-to-back set against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday and the Detroit Red Wings on Friday.
Chicago will be playing the second half of a back-to-back that began with a 5-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche in Denver on Monday. Petr Mrazek made 32 saves as the Blackhawks lost their seventh game in a row (0-5-2).
It was the 22nd straight road loss (0-21-1) for Chicago, which is a dismal 4-25-1 on the road this season. The Blackhawks’ last win away from home came on Nov. 9 at Tampa Bay.
“I don’t have any answers for you guys,” frustrated Blackhawks defenseman Seth Jones told reporters. “It’s hard. We just need to find a way to play together as a team instead of everyone trying to do it themselves, playing individually. It ends up in the back of our net when that happens.
“We’ve got to block shots for each other, backcheck for each other, forecheck for each other, be on time when you’re supposed to be on time. If we lose a faceoff, do your assignment, know your assignment. It’s the little details of the game that are not there at the moment.”
The Tuesday game will be the second of three meetings between the two teams. Arizona won the first 8-1 on Oct. 30 in Tempe. After Blackhawks star rookie Connor Bedard opened the scoring 28 seconds into the game, the Coyotes scored eight unanswered goals.
Michael Carcone netted a hat trick and added an assist, and Jack McBain had two goals and two assists in the win. The teams will face off once more this season, in Chicago on Sunday.
–Field Level Media
