Coyotes defeat Kings in opener of NHL Global Series -- Melbourne

Logan Cooley’s highlight-reel goal in his preseason debut stood up as the game-winner for the Arizona Coyotes in a 5-3 victory against the Los Angeles Kings at the 2023 NHL Global Series -- Melbourne at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia, on Saturday.

Played in front of a sold-out crowd of 13,097, it was the first NHL game in the Southern Hemisphere. The Coyotes and Kings will play another preseason game in Melbourne on Sunday, which will start at 12 a.m. ET and air on NHL Network and ESPN+ in the United States, Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ in Canada, and 9Go, 9Now, ESPN and the ESPN App in Australia.

Cooley scored to make it 4-1 at 11:40 when he skated past Adrian Kempe along the right boards, spun away from defenseman Andreas Englund at the right face-off circle, cut to the net and lifted a shot past Pheonix Copley.

The 19-year-old forward was selected by Arizona with the No. 3 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.

Clayton Keller had a goal and assist, and Matias Maccelli, Lawson Crouse and Barrett Hayton scored for the Coyotes. Connor Ingram made 33 saves.

Viktor Arvidsson had a goal and an assist, and Kempe and Trevor Moore each scored for the Kings. Copley made 12 saves over the first two periods, and David Rittich made three saves in the third period.

Keller scored at 1:48 of the second period to give Arizona a 1-0 lead. He took a cross-ice pass from Nick Schmaltz (two assists), skated the puck behind the goal line and banked a shot in off the back of Copley’s pad.

Maccelli extended the lead to 2-0 on the power play at 8:22, snapping a shot from the left circle over Copley’s right shoulder.

Kempe scored 46 seconds later at 9:08 to make it 2-1. He took a drop pass from Jordan Spence, the first NHL player born in Australia, just inside the Coyotes blue line, stick-handled into open space and fired the puck past Ingram.

Crouse restored the two-goal lead at 11:19 to make it 3-1, taking a pass out of the corner from Nick Bjugstad and one-timing a shot from the high slot.

Arvidsson cut it to 4-2 at 14:33, converting on a turnover just inside the Coyotes zone. Kevin Fiala got to the puck and fired it towards the net, where Arvidsson was able to redirect it past Ingram.

Moore made it 4-3 at 16:12, keeping the puck on an odd-man rush and scoring from the left circle.

Hayton scored an empty-net goal with 22 seconds left for the 5-3 final.