Coyotes end Avalanche home winning streak at 18

DENVER --The Arizona Coyotes ended the Colorado Avalanche's home winning streak at 18 games with a 3-2 shootout victory at Ball Arena on Tuesday.

The streak was the fifth longest in NHL history.
"It was going to end at some point, you know what I mean?" Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "It would have been nice to win this one going into the [All-Star break] feeling great and all that, but it is what it is. We're due for a break. I think our team is excited to get off for a little while. It's a valuable point."
Lawson Crouse tied it 2-2 with 38 seconds remaining in the third period when he swatted in the rebound of Jakob Chychrun's initial shot with Scott Wedgewood on the bench for an extra skater.
"It shouldn't happen, especially at home the way we've been defending leads here, but it is what it is," Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen said.

Rantanen and Nazem Kadri scored, and Darcy Kuemper made 22 saves for Colorado (32-8-4), which had won 10 straight but is 15-0-2 in its past 17 games.
Alex Galchenyuk scored his first of the season and the deciding goal in the second round of the shootout for Arizona (11-29-4), which had lost five straight. Wedgewood made 38 saves.
"We mentioned many times this year that we have a group with a lot of pride, a lot of character and a lot of leadership," Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said. "The boys take pride in the way they play, the way they bounce back. They know the [Avalanche] are a really good team; they were on a roll. They arrived here with a lot of pride, they played with a lot of passion, and they battled all the way through."
Kadri gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 2:42 of the second period when he intercepted a pass by Christian Fischer, skated through the slot and put a backhand over a sprawling Wedgewood.
Galchenyuk, who was playing his 24th game this season, tied 1-1 at 12:54. Ilya Lyubushkin passed to him near the right hash marks for a backhand that went through the legs of Nick Schmaltz.
"I put in the work trying to find my game, put a lot of effort on my two-way game," Galchenyuk said. "Over the last few games, my game's really been building a lot better and better and I had a great opportunity tonight."

Rantanen made it 2-1 at 19:17 of the second. Andre Burakovsky skated down left wing on a 3-on-2 rush and sent a cross-ice pass to Rantanen, who shot five-hole from the right circle.
"We know we're a good team. We're capable of a lot of things and we've been finding ways to win," Rantanen said. "There are things we know we can be better at down the stretch. Tough schedule for us, some tough games, and obviously we want to build up our season so we finish well before we hit the playoffs. Still a lot of work to do."
Wedgewood, who made four saves in overtime and stopped all three attempts in the shootout, entered the game 1-2-1 with a 4.34 goals-against average and .867 save percentage in his previous five games (four starts).
"I was confident in myself," he said. "I think that's one thing I've been working on, just trying. I need to go up against the best to prove I can be one of the best. So that's one of those mantras."

Although Bednar credited the play of Wedgewood, he also said the Avalanche didn't spend enough time getting bodies to the front of the net.
"He made a lot of glove saves," Bednar said.
NOTES:The Detroit Red Wings own the NHL record for most consecutive home victories. They won 23 straight in 2011-12. … The 17-game point streak is the longest in Colorado/Quebec Nordiques history. … Rantanen has scored 14 points (eight goals, six assists) in his past 11 games. … Kadri has scored nine points (four goals, five assists) during a five-game point streak. … Colorado forward Alex Newhook was a late scratch because of a non-COVID-19 illness. He was replaced in the lineup by Dylan Sikura, who was plus-1 in 13:05 of ice time after being recalled from Colorado of the American Hockey League. … Coyotes forward Clayton Keller had an assist to extend his point streak to five games (two goals, four assists).