Coyotes rally past Senators 4-3 to spoil Jacques Martin’s return

Dec 19, 2023 | 9:29 PM

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Michael Kesselring scored with 3:33 remaining to cap a four-goal comeback in the Arizona Coyotes’ 4-3 National Hockey League victory over Ottawa on Tuesday night, spoiling the return of Senators interim coach Jacques Martin.

Jack McBain, J.J. Moser and Clayton Keller also scored for the Coyotes, who trailed 3-0 after the first period. Moser and Keller scored 33 seconds apart in the third to tie it 3-3 at 9:47.

Angus Crookshank, Josh Norris and Dominik Kubalik scored for the Senators in their first game since coach D.J. Smith was fired Monday. Martin was 342-255-96 in his first stint as Ottawa coach from 1996 to 2004.

Daniel Alfredsson made his debut as an assistant coach for the Senators, who have lost five games in a row.

Arizona goaltender Karel Vejmelka stopped all 16 shots he faced after replacing Connor Ingram following Kubalik’s goal late in the first period. Ingram stopped three of six shots.

The Coyotes dominated the third period, outshooting Ottawa 13-5. They finished with a 39-21 shots advantage.

Joonas Korpisalo made 34 saves for the Senators in the fourth game of a five-game trip that ends Thursday in Colorado.

Crookshank, Norris and Kubalik scored in the first period, the first goals the Coyotes had given up on their three-game homestand.

Crookshank opened the scoring four minutes in when he tipped in Artem Zub’s shot from right blue line through traffic. Crookshank was recalled Sunday after compiling 10 goals and 11 assists for Belleville of the American Hockey League.

Norris scored eight seconds into a power play on a slap shot from the right circle to make it 2-0 at 13:06, and Kubalik scored on a nifty backhand redirection of a pass from Erik Brannstrom just 73 seconds later.

The Coyotes posted shutouts in the first two games of the homestand. Crookshank’s goal was the first by an opponent at even strength in 139:47.

McBain beat Korpisalo at 14:10 of the second, 10 seconds after Senators penalty expired, when he put a rebound of Logan Cooley’s shot into an open side to make it 3-1. Moser scored after Matias Maccelli took the puck from Norris along the side boards.

Senators forward Vladimir Tarasenko played in his 700th game after missing the previous two to attend to a family matter. Forward Mathieu Joseph missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury.

UP NEXT

Senators: At Colorado on Thursday.

Coyotes: At San Jose on Thursday.

AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

Jack Magruder, The Associated Press