Seven Different Coyotes Score in 7-1 Preseason Win Over Ducks

TUCSON, Arizona – They may have been a little over 100 miles south of The Valley, but the Desert Dogs felt right at home in Tucson.

Seven different Coyotes scored, Karel Vejmelka made 29 saves, and the Arizona Coyotes wrapped up their preseason slate with a 7-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks at TCC Arena in Tucson, Ariz. on Saturday.

Matt Dumba, Sean Durzi, Liam O’Brien, Jack McBain, Logan Cooley, Nick Bjugstad, and Lawson Crouse scored for the Coyotes, who open the regular season in New Jersey on Friday. O’Brien, Bjugstad, Durzi, Cooley, Dumba, and Michael Carcone each notched two points in the win.

Playing at the home of the Coyotes’ AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners, Arizona’s lineup shined throughout the game.

“It was a special one. Everyone, including the guys in that room, made it special for me,” said Carcone, who won the AHL scoring race last season with the Roadrunners. “It was definitely special, and it was nice to be back.”

Pavel Mintyukov scored the lone goal for the Ducks, notching his second of the preseason. Alex Stalock stopped 23 of the 30 shots he faced in the loss.

Saturday’s contest marked the final preseason game for both the Coyotes and the Ducks.

“There’s a few things we worked at this preseason,” head coach André Tourigny said. “A lot of the new guys had five games, so we could see today we were in sync. We were rolling.”

Dumba opened the scoring at 18:58 of the first period, taking a drop pass from Zucker near the top of the slot and rifling it past Stalock.

Durzi made it 2-0 early in the second, notching his first of the preseason with a seeing-eye shot just as a power play expired. O’Brien made it 3-0 just under three minutes later, poking in his own rebound following a nice pass from Dumba.

McBain potted his first of the preseason to make it 4-0 eight minutes into the middle frame, tucking the puck into an open net after Carcone made a nice drop pass behind the net. The line of Carcone-McBain-O'Brien accounted for five points on Saturday.

“We did a good job as a line supporting each other, and as a team I thought we did a good job, too,” Carcone said. “There was some stuff we wanted to clean up, and I thought for 60 minutes we did that. It was good, and I’m excited to get the season going.”

Cooley’s fourth of the season gave Arizona a 5-0 lead at 16:41 of the middle frame, which came on his second penalty shot in as many games. The 19-year-old Cooley finished the preseason with four goals and two assists in five total games.

Bjugstad added a goal in the third, beating Stalock for his first of the preseason, before Crouse rounded out the scoring at 16:11 of the final frame, bringing the crowd at TCC Arena to its feet yet again.

“You play a game, not in your own building, but you saw a lot of jerseys and people who know the players, especially the players who were here in the past," Tourigny said. “You could see a feeling of belonging around the community for the Yotes, and that’s fun.”

The Coyotes kick off the regular season on Friday against the Devils in New Jersey. Puck drop is scheduled for 4 pm MST, and will be broadcast on Scripps Sports (Antenna 15.2) on TV and ESPN 620 AM on radio.