The Arizona Coyotes rallied from a 2-1 third-period deficit to come back and defeat the Colorado Avalanche, 3-2, in a shootout on Tuesday night. With the surprising victory, the Coyotes snapped the Avalanche’s 18-game home winning streak.
From a betting perspective, the Coyotes became the biggest underdog to pull off an outright win since 2006, according to The Action Network. Entering the game, the Avalanche were -600 favorites on the moneyline at most sportsbooks and the Coyotes were a +450 underdog.
Coyotes forward Alex Galchenyuk provided the only goal during the shootout as he beat Avalanche goaltender Darcy Kuemper with a backhand shot on the team’s second shootout attempt. Galchenyuk also scored in the second period, which marked his first goal of the 2021-22 season and his first NHL goal since April 6, 2019.
Arizona goaltender Scott Wedgewood came up big by turning away 38 shots throughout regulation and overtime. He also made the game-sealing save against Nazem Kadri on Colorado’s final shootout attempt.
The Coyotes were trailing 2-1 in the final minute of regulation before Lawson Crouse found the back of the net against Kuemper.
The Avalanche had won 10 consecutive games since dropping an overtime decision to the Nashville Predators back on Jan. 11. During that stretch, two of those wins came against the Coyotes.
“We mentioned many times this year that we have a group with a lot of pride, a lot of character and a lot of leadership,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said, according to the Associated Press. “The boys take pride in the way they play, the way they bounce back. They know the Avs are a really good team, they were on a roll. They arrived here with a lot of pride, they played with a lot of passion, and they battled all the way through.”
Colorado finished the month of January with a 15-0-1 mark, which tied an NHL record for wins and points in a given month. Meanwhile, the Coyotes are 11-29-4 record this season and had lost five straight games coming into Tuesday’s game against Colorado.
KVSP