The last time the Bruins lost to the Arizona Coyotes, it was at the start of the 2010-11 season and that season ended with the Bruins raising the Stanley Cup at the of that season.
At least the Bruins have that to hang their hat on.
In a frustrating loss, Lawson Crouse scored with 13.5 seconds left in the third period after the Bruins fumbled the puck when an icing call was waved off at the last second after it trickled through the blue paint. Derek Forbort over-skated it, Matias Maccelli pounced on it and fed Crouse out front for the goal and a 4-3 victory at Mullett Arena.
The Coyotes ended a 19-game losing streak to the Bruins, who suffered just their fourth regulation loss of the season. And the can thank goalie Karel Vejmelka (43 saves) for the victory.
The Coyotes had broken a 2-2 tie 57 seconds into the third period when Shayne Gostisbehere sent Clayton Keller away on an odd-man rush. Nick Schmaltz just beat a recovering Hampus Lindholm and he was there to collect Keller’s pass and beat Jeremy Swayman
But the Bruins were able to tie it up with 5:29 left in regulation. With time winding down ona power play, David Krejci fed Nick Foligno for a tough-angle one-timer that the veteran buried past standout netminder Karel Vejmelka for his fifth of the season.
But late lapse robbed them of even a point.
Right off the bat, the Coyotes looked excited to be at their cozy, not-ready-for-the-NHL home on the Arizona State campus after a 14-game road trip and they scored just 23 seconds into the game. Swayman was forced to make a stop with his glove that he couldn’t freeze and, after Charlie McAvoy had his stick knocked out of his hands, the Yotes regained control. With McAvoy in the corner retrieving the stick, short-time Bruin Josh Brown was able to walk right down the slot and snapped one over Swayman’s glove shoulder for his second goal in as many games against the Bruins this year.
But the Bruins got their feet under them quickly. They wound up outshooting Arizona 15-6 in the first and tied the game on a power play. The Bruins drew a roughing penalty on Liam O’Brien after Trent Frederic made a terrific rush and cut in front of the net but goalie Vejmelka made a terrific stop. In the ensuing scrum, O’Brien got two minutes for going over the line with Charlie Coyle.
On the advantage, McAvoy put the puck on a tee for David Pastrnak, who blasted his 19th goal past Vejmelka at 4:52.
Despite the ice tilting in the Bruins' favor for the rest of the first, the score remained tied.
It appeared that the Coyotes regained the lead early in the second period after Matias Maccelli set up Jakob Chychrun tap-in goal. But Bruins coach Jim Montgomery challenged for an offside when the puck came just outside the zone well ahead of the scoring play and the goal came off the board.
Then at 7:48, the Bruins took their first lead of the game. From behind the net, Jake DeBrusk fed Charlie Coyle and he jammed his seventh of the season past Vejmelka on his second try.
But they couldn’t put the Coyotes away. After the Bruins failed on a couple of chances to get the puck out of their zone, Crouse tipped home Gostisbehere’s point shot past Swayman at 10:40.
The Bruins had numerous glittering chances to regain the lead. Vejmelka made saves on Pastrnak and DeBrusk on back-to-back. Shortly after that, Brad Marchand hit Hampus Lindholm on a pretty backdoor play, but again Vejmelka was there for the stop.
The Bruins had a late power-play, but they could not get it past Vejmelka and, despite holding a 38-12 shot advantage, the Bruins were deadlocked with Arizona going into the third.
