Recap: Coyotes Earn Point vs. Devils

GLENDALE --The Coyotes scored two unassisted goals and earned a point vs. New Jersey on Friday night at Gila River Arena. The Devils won, 3-2, in a shootout.

Conor Garland and Christian Fischer provided the offense for Arizona, which has reached the midpoint of its season with 37 points, 14 more than it earned halfway through last season.
"I thought guys worked hard," Head Coach Rick Tocchet said. "Other than a few mistakes here and there, and our power play not coming through for us, I thought guys gave an effort ... They've worked hard the last two games, I don't care what anybody says. They've tried."
• Arizona played minus forward Nick Schmaltz, whom they placed on the injured-reserve list on Thursday because of a lower-body injury. He joins regulars Antti Raanta, Jason Demers, Michael Grabner and Christian Dvorak on the sidelines.
"When we were healthy we were playing well," Tocchet said. "Obviously this rash of injuries (arrives) and then all of a sudden people get played in different positions and stuff like that ... Five or six regulars being out, I hate to keep saying it, but you could tell tonight. We worked hard. You can tell the skill level wasn't there sometimes, so we're just grinding away."

• In the shootout, Kyle Palmieri and Drew Stafford scored goals for New Jersey and Keith Kinkaid stopped both of Arizona's shot attempts.
• Darcy Kuemper made 33 saves for Arizona, including a couple of eye-popping stops in overtime to keep the Coyotes alive.
"'Kemps' gave us a chance and that's all we could ask of him," Fischer said. "The goalies have done their part for most of the year. Like I said, they are giving us chances to win, they're making unbelievable stops. It'd be nice to reward them with a win ... We need to keep working on our power play, we need to keep working on our whole game. It's only a matter of time until we figure it out."

• New Jersey was awarded a 1-0 lead just 65 seconds into the game after off-ice officials in Toronto ruled a shot by Nico Hischier would have crossed the goal line and gone into Arizona's goal had Clayton Keller not accidentally dislodged the net.
Per the NHL: "At 1:05 of the first period in the Devils/Coyotes game, the Referee initiated a video review to determine if the puck entered the Arizona net in a legal fashion. The Situation Room determined that the actions of Arizona's Clayton Keller knocked the net off its moorings as New Jersey's Nico Hischier's original shot crossed the Arizona goal line between the normal position of the goalposts. According to Rule 63.6 which states 'In the event that the goal post is displaced, either deliberately or accidentally, by a defending player, prior to the puck crossing the goal line between the normal position of the goalposts, the Referee may award a goal.' Therefore, the Referee awarded a goal to New Jersey."
• Garland tied the score at 16:44 of the first period when he picked off an errant pass by New Jersey defender Pavel Zacha near the top of the crease and beat Kinkaid with a shot from near the right post.

• Fischer gave Arizona a 2-1 lead at 9:05 of the second period when he beat Kinkaid with a wrist shot from the left circle to cap an odd-man rush. The goal was Fischer's 10th of the season, with 41 games to go. Fisher scored a career-high 15 goals last season over 79 games.

• Blake Coleman pulled New Jersey into a 2-2 tie when he tapped a nice feed from Travis Zajac between Kuemper's pads at 16:16 of the second period.
• The Devils outshot the Coyotes, 11-9, in the third period but neither team scored.
• The Coyotes delivered a season-high 39 hits. Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Josh Archibald and Lawson Crouse led the way with five each.
• Brad Richardson won 13 of 21 face-offs.