Coyotes Drop Saturday Matinee to Jets at Mullett Arena

STATS

J.J. Moser, Liam O’Brien, and Lawson Crouse scored, but the Arizona Coyotes fell 5-3 to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday at Mullett Arena. Karel Vejmelka made 22 saves in his sixth start of the season.

Nino Niederreiter recorded a hat trick, Brendan Dillon scored twice, and Connor Hellebuyck made 22 saves for the Jets (5-4-2), who stopped a three-game winless streak. The Coyotes (5-5-1) face the Jets three more times this season: Nov. 18 (In Winnipeg), Jan. 7 (in Arizona), and Feb. 25 (in Winnipeg).

Arizona had recorded at least one point in three consecutive games, and was playing in its third game in four days.

"We played good defensively, we did good things, but I don't think we had the pace we normally have, that's A," head coach André Tourigny said. "B, I think they played really solid. They're a heavy team, they create possession, they played their own game, and they were better than us on their breakout. That's what made the difference."

Moser opened the scoring at 5:31 of the first period, taking a pass from Matias Maccelli on his forehand before beating Hellebuyck on his backhand. The goal was the defenseman’s second of the season, and gave Arizona an early 1-0 lead.

O’Brien put Arizona up 2-0 with his second of the season, firing in a rebound after Jack McBain collected a turnover in front of the net. Niederreiter brought the Jets to within one less than two minutes later, though, redirecting a shot-pass from Mason Appleton past Vejmelka.

Dillon tied the game at two at 10:05 of the second period with his first goal of the season.

Crouse restored the Coyotes’ lead at 14:47 of the period with a power-play goal, notching his fourth goal in three games, but Niederreiter responded right back with a power-play goal of his own at 17:01 before Dillon's second of the game put the Jets up for good early in the third.

"They came at us hard, and we had some chances, but not nearly enough," forward Nick Bjugstad said. "That's a good team, but on our end, we definitely didn't like how we were working as a five-man unit. There's definitely some areas we could have been better in, obviously, and we left [Vejmelka] out to dry a few times.

"It's a game we'll definiely look at, try to grow from it, and keep going."

Niederreiter capped off his hat trick at 7:16 of the final frame, redirecting Adam Lowry's shot past Vejmelka to make it 5-3.

"We were too slow on the breakout, the puck was not moving, and from there, we had nothing going defensively," Tourigny said. "They were able to stall us, and we stayed in our zone forever. That's something we talk about, and we do better."

The Coyotes close out their three-game home stand against the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 pm MST, and will be broadcast on the below networks:

WHERE TO WATCH:
• Antenna: 15.2 Phoenix, 9.2 Tucson, 15.2 Cottonwood/Prescott/Flagstaff/Lake Havasu/Kingman
• Phoenix Cable: Cox 95, Orbitel 200, Mediacom 107 (Pinal County)
• Tucson Cable: Cox 85, Xfinity 1179, Orbitel 208
• Flagstaff: American Cable channel 4
• Sedona: Optimum Cable channel 6
• Prescott: Cable One Prescott channel 61
WHERE TO LISTEN:
• Radio: Arizona Sports 98.7 FM
• Streaming: Arizona Coyotes App, Arizona Sports App