Keller scores two goals, Coyotes defeat Blackhawks

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Clayton Keller scored two goals for the Arizona Coyotes in a 5-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at Gila River Arena on Thursday.

Brad Richardson scored his first goal of the season and had an assist, and Darcy Kuemper made 28 saves for the Coyotes (19-11-4), who are 4-1-1 in their past six games. Arizona was 1-3-1 in its previous five at home.
Vinnie Hinostroza had an assist on all three Coyotes goals in the first period against his former team.
"We wanted to come here and have a great start, and that's what we did," Hinostroza said. "We wanted to pick up our home record. We really need to start going here at home."
WATCH: [All Blackhawks vs. Coyotes highlights]
Jonathan Toews and Dylan Strome scored for the Blackhawks (12-14-6), who have lost three straight games (0-2-1), including twice to the Coyotes in five days.
Robin Lehner, who also was in net for Chicago in Arizona's 4-3 shootout win at United Center on Sunday, made 35 saves.
Michael Grabner and Keller scored 2:07 apart early in the first period for the Coyotes, who were coming off a 5-1 loss to the Calgary Flames at home Tuesday.
"We got some highlight goals, some high-level goals," Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said.

Grabner scored on a backhand from the right face-off circle off Richardson's breakout pass at 2:56 to give the Coyotes a 1-0 lead.
Keller made it 2-0 when he scored on a breakaway at 5:03. He got ahead of defenseman Adam Boqvist at the Blackhawks blue line to take Jordan Oesterle's stretch pass and put a shot between Lehner's pads.
"Breakaway, breakaway, score on those. It's difficult to start the game early with those types of chances," Lehner said. "We're got to give ourselves a chance."
Chicago, already without top defenseman Duncan Keith (groin injury), played its first game without defenseman Calvin de Haan, who injured his right shoulder during a 5-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.
"Every team goes through it, good teams find ways to play with some of the best players injured," Toews said. "We've got to find ways to give ourselves a chance to win games."
Richardson redirected Jakob Chychrun's shot at 15:04 to make it 3-0 with his first goal of the season in his 27th game.
"I felt like I've had so many Grade A chances and I just wasn't getting any bounces," Richardson said. "I could have had a lot more goals than I do."

Toews cut it to 3-1 at 6:02 of the second, but Nick Schmaltz scored for Arizona to make it 4-1 at 8:25.
"First time playing the old team, and you get two wins in five days, that's exciting," said Schmaltz, who was traded by Chicago for Strome and Brendan Perlini on Nov. 25, 2018. "I was excited both games and I felt like I had a little extra something."
Strome scored a power-play goal at 12:58 of the third to get Chicago within 4-2.
Keller scored his second of the game at 17:53 for the 5-2 final.
He had 12 shots on goal, tying three others for the Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets record. Arizona has had at least 40 shots on goal in three consecutive games, the fifth such stretch in Coyotes/Jets history and first since March 5-9, 1996.
"We've giving up really easy chances and we're having to work hard for ours, and it's not a good combination," Lehner said. "We're giving up way too much, and it's a hard climate to defend in right now for everyone."

They said it

"I won't say they dominated the game, but again, we're just giving up quality chances where they're finding an open guy on the doorstep. You can't ask your goaltenders to make miraculous saves every single night. We're just giving up too many rushes." -- Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews
"You stick with it and it keeps getting better every day in practice, and doing the little things to get rewarded. It's a lot of fun to play right now, and I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing." -- Coyotes forward Clayton Keller, who has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in his past 11 games

Need to know

The Coyotes have won five of the past six games against the Blackhawks. ... Chicago is 3-7-2 in its past 12 games. ... Lehner was 5-0-1 against Arizona. ... The Coyotes acquired Hinostroza and Oesterle from the Blackhawks in a seven-player trade July 12, 2018. ... Richardson scored in two of Arizona's final three games last season and was tied with Alex Galchenyuk for the Coyotes lead with 19 goals. ... Hinostroza is the first Arizona player to have three assists in a period since Alex Goligoski against the Carolina Hurricanes on Nov. 2, 2018.

What's next

Blackhawks: At the St. Louis Blues on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-MW, NBCSCH+, NHL.TV)
Coyotes: Host the New Jersey Devils on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; FS-A PLUS, MSG+, NHL.TV)