'Yotes Notes: Penalties in 3rd Period Key Loss to Devils

NEWARK, N.J. --The Coyotes committed two penalties in the third period vs. New Jersey on Saturday night at Prudential Center, and the Devils made them pay for both en route to a 4-3 win.
"One of the biggest things that plagues our team is when the pressure is on, someone makes an ill-advised play," Head Coach Rick Tocchet said of the Coyotes, who dropped to 0-10-1 to start the season.
Max Domi was called for interference and Christian Fischer was called for roughing within the final 20 minutes, and New Jersey parlayed the infractioncs into two power-play goals, turning a 3-2 deficit after two periods into a one-goal win.
"I thought the guys played great, they deserved to win," Tocchet said. "When things go bad, you get two calls against you, and the Devils have a great power play. I thought they were a little flat tonight, but they found a way to win and we didn't."

The roughing call on Fischer came at 15:26 of the third period, moments after New Jersey's Blake Coleman hit Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson with a high check. Fischer stood up for his teammate, but his loyalty proved costly.
Ekman-Larsson left the game after the hit and did not return. Tocchet said that's because Ekman-Larsson needed to go through the League's concussion protocol associated with such hits.
• Rookie Clayton Keller scored his eighth goal of the season late in the second period. It was a pretty, unassisted goal that Keller set up by stealing the puck from Devils defenseman Nico Hischier, the No. 1 overall pick in this year's draft.

"In the second, we were in their zone, playing our game, getting pucks deep and throwing it at the net," Keller said. "I thought we played really good, but came up short and it sucks. It sounds like a broken record, but we just have to stay positive."
Keller has scored eight goals in 11 games this season. That total ranks teid for fourth among all NHLers.

• Brendan Perlini, who missed six games because of an upper-body injury, scored his first goal of the season.
Trailing 2-1, Perlini wristed a shot past Devils goalie Corey Schneider from between the circles in the high slot at 11:57 of the second period. The goal was impactful as it came just 48 seconds after Taylor Hall had given New Jersey a lead.
"Our lines looked liked they were going a bit more tonight," Perlini said. "A little more jam. We've just got to keep working hard and things will eventually turn around. In situations like this, you can't just give up. You have to work even harder and get even better."

• Fischer, a healthy scratch on Thursday vs. the New York Rangers, scored Arizona's first goal off a rebound during a power play in the first period. The goal was Fischer's third of the season.
• Goalie Scott Wedgewood, acquired via a trade with New Jersey a few hours before puck drop, served as backup to Domingue. Wedgewood wore sweater No. 40.
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• Alex Goligoski wore the third 'A,' joining Ekman-Larsson and Niklas Hjalmarsson who are wearing an 'A' on a permanent basis.