Coyotes Top Avalanche with Thrilling Overtime Win on Thursday

STATS

That was Bjug-tiful.

Nick Bjugstad scored the overtime winner, Travis Boyd, Nick Schmaltz, and Michael Carcone each added a goal, and Connor Ingram made 28 saves as the Arizona Coyotes beat the Central Division-leading Colorado Avalanche 4-3 at Mullett Arena on Thursday.

The Coyotes have now won a season-high three straight games, with the wins coming over the last three Stanley Cup Champions: The Vegas Golden Knights, Avalanche, and Tampa Bay Lightning. Thursday's win was especially memorable considering it came on Hockey Fights Cancer night, and what started as an emotional ceremony before puck drop ended with a jubilant team -- and crowd -- in a game that often felt like the stakes were much higher than a November regular season tilt.

Arizona (11-9-2) now has its best record through 22 games since the 2019-20 season, and is flying high following yet another resilient performance against a high-powered offense. Ingram improved to 9-3-0 on the year, and has won three consecutive starts.

"I think it’s a testimony of the character and what kind of a care level we have in that room," head coach André Tourigny said. "I think our guys, they really tuned in, and the way we played the last three games, not just the result, but the urgency we have, and the focus level we have, it’s unbelievable.

"I think it’s a blessing to watch those guys play every night."

Makar opened the scoring late in the first with a power-play goal, wristing a shot from the point past Ingram with 28 seconds to play in the period to give the Avalanche (15-6-1) a 1-0 lead. The goal marked the first time Arizona's penalty kill allowed a goal since Nov. 14 against the Dallas Stars, a span of seven games.

Boyd evened the score with his second of the season 3:03 into the second period, but Wood restored Colorado’s lead just under two minutes later to make it 2-1 Avalanche.

Schmaltz tied it up with a power-play goal at 16:22 of the middle frame, rifiling a pass from Alex Kerfoot past Georgiev. That response has become a common theme for the Coyotes throughout their three-game winning streak, answering back when adversity strikes.

"It’s huge," Bjugstad said. "Moreso coming off the losses we were coming off of, we felt they were pretty self-inflected. I think we all sat around and knew we had better, and obviously we did these last three games."

Carcone’s goal 1:08 into the third period gave Arizona its first lead of the night, and the 27-year-old is now tied for the team lead with 10 goals this season -- just a season removed from winning the AHL's scoring title -- and has three goals in his last two games.

MacKinnon tied it with a blast from the circle, recording Colorado's second power-play goal of the night at 11:04 of the third.

That ultimately set up Bjugstad's overtime heroics. First, he drew a penalty on a breakaway midway through the extra period, and though the Coyotes didn't score with the man advantage, his pressure forced an own-goal off a rebound with 21 seconds to play to send the Desert Dogs home with a win over the first-place Avs.

"It was a hard-fought game," Bjugstad said. "It was up and down, there were important times in the game where we capitalized and found a way to stick with it, as well. It’s trending in the right direction, for sure."

The Coyotes return to action on Saturday against the St. Louis Blues, playing in the third game of their current five-game homestand. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 pm MST, and the game will be available on the following networks:

WHERE TO WATCH:
• Antenna: 61.1 Phoenix, 9.2 Tucson
• Phoenix Cable: Cox 95
• Phoenix Satellite: DirecTV Channel 61, Dish Network Channel 61
• Bullhead City / Lake Havasu: Optimum channel 6
• Flagstaff: American Cable channel 4, Optimum Cable channel 6
• Maricopa: Orbitel channel 11
• Pinal County: Mediacom channel 13
• Prescott: Sparklight channel 61
• Sedona: Optimum Cable channel 6
• Show Low / Winslow Sparklight channel 61
• Tucson: Cox channel 85, Xfinity channel 1179, Orbitel channel 208
WHERE TO LISTEN:
• Radio: ESPN 620
• Stream: Arizona Coyotes App, NHL Mobile App