Coyotes end 14-game skid with win against Senators

OTTAWA -- Matias Maccelli had a goal and two assists, and the Arizona Coyotes ended a 14-game losing streak with a 5-3 win against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Friday.

“I feel loose in my suit suddenly. I lost weight in the last 30 minutes,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. “I feel relief, I will say. I don’t know exactly how to describe it, to be honest with you. We felt we deserved better [in] a lot of those games. We feel, as well, we’re guilty of, after the All-Star break, we had a slow start, but we didn’t feel we were as bad as we have been. We know we’re a better team, we’re a good team, and if we play well, we can beat anybody in the League.”

Nick Schmaltz, Dylan Guenther and Michael Carcone each had a goal and an assist, and Karel Vejmelka made 34 saves for the Coyotes (24-31-5), who were on a 0-12-2 skid.

“Everybody has wanted to win for a long time,” Vejmelka said. “It tastes special for us, for now. A lot of emotions for us. I’m glad and happy for the team. We finally did it.”

Shane Pinto and Vladimir Tarasenko each had a goal and an assist, and Drake Batherson extended his goal streak to four games for the Senators (25-30-3), who have lost three straight. Tim Stutzle had two assists, and Anton Forsberg made 26 saves after Joonas Korpisalo was a late scratch because of an illness.

“I thought we worked hard, but we’ve got to be ready at the start,” Ottawa interim coach Jacques Martin said. “We had some guys that weren’t ready to play.”

Carcone gave Arizona a 1-0 lead at 7:31 of the first period when he scored on a rebound of a Liam O'Brien shot. It was his first goal in 11 games.

J.J. Moser made it 2-0 at 12:39 with a one-timer over the glove from the left face-off circle, and Schmaltz scored from a sharp angle on the power play to make it 3-0 at 15:37.

“We’ve got to be ready from the start,” Forsberg said. “It’s been a few games where it’s been a tough start. We’ve got to try and work on getting the first goal there. It’s always easier to play [with] a lead and not chase from behind all the time.”

Tarasenko cut it to 3-1 at 18:09 when he one-timed a cross-ice pass from Jakob Chychrun from the bottom of the right face-off circle.

Batherson cut it to 3-2 at 13:49 of the second, converting a rebound at the edge of the crease off a shot by Jacob Bernard-Docker. It was his fourth goal in as many games.

Pinto tied it 3-3 at 15:52 with a wrist shot from the slot on the power play.

“I just think we’re fighting back too much lately,” Tarasenko said. “We need to find a way to start games better, like, on time. Some nights you’re able to come back and feel nice, but some nights it’s not going to work every time.”

Guenther restored the Arizona lead 4-3 at 4:18 of the third period when he shot under the arm of Forsberg on the power play.

“I’ve played on winning teams, and you don’t win in the long run if you don’t go through adversity and bumps along the way,” Guenther said. “It just doesn’t happen. I think you remember that feeling. We’ll remember this. We’re just not going to look back from here.”

Maccelli scored into an empty net at 18:45 for the 5-3 final.

“It’s [big] for everybody,” Tourigny said. “For coaches, management, our fans, our media, everybody. You want to be in a winning environment, you want to have success. I think everybody will be happy and we’ll have a great day off tomorrow.”

NOTES: Ottawa forward Brady Tkachuk left the game in the third period after colliding with O’Brien. He did not return and there was no update after the game. … Batherson had a game-high seven shots. … Tkachuk had a game-high six hits. … Maccelli has seven points (three goals, four assists) during a five-game point streak.