Coyotes stun Kraken in OT after tying it late

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Dylan Guenther scored on a breakaway at 4:12 of overtime, and the Arizona Coyotes rallied to hand the Seattle Kraken their seventh straight loss, 2-1 at Mullett Arena on Friday.

Logan Cooley’s stretch pass allowed Guenther to get a couple of strides ahead of Seattle forward Andre Burakovsky, and he scored with a wrist shot under the crossbar.

“We sit together (in the locker room), on the team plane, we spend a lot of time together,” Guenther said of his relationship with Cooley. “When you’re friends with someone off the ice, it helps your on-ice chemistry. And our skill sets complement each other well.”

Clayton Keller had tied it 1-1 with 1:08 left in the third period and an extra attacker on the ice for Arizona. Nick Bjugstad drove the left side and put a backhand shot on net, and Keller scored on the rebound in front. Keller scored for the fourth straight game (four goals).

“It’s a good confidence booster because we came back from behind," Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. "It's good because we won in overtime. It's good because it was a tight game and we found a way to win. We were resilient and never panicked on the bench. Just the way we won that game, it's a good feeling.”

Karel Vejmelka made 27 saves for the Coyotes (29-36-5), who have won three of four.

“It was a different game than usual, we waited for a goal for a long time,” Vejmelka said. “They got the first goal … but we had a great comeback. We blocked so many shots, it was almost like a playoff game.”

Ryker Evans scored his first NHL goal for the Kraken (28-28-13), who are 6-13 in overtime. Joey Daccord made 24 saves.

Seattle was coming off a 3-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, when Keegan Kolesar scored the go-ahead goal with 1:20 remaining.

“Bottom line, we were in a position, an excellent position, to win this hockey game and no question we worked hard to put ourselves in that position,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “That’s a game we should have been able to close out.”

Of Keller’s tying goal, Hakstol said, “We were our own worst enemy. We misplayed a 3-on-3 and we’ve got guys two guys back. That’s one that certainly we'd like to play differently, and that ends up in the back of our net.”

Evans’ goal at 7:40 of the third made it 1-0 and was the sixth for Seattle in its past five games. The Kraken have scored 10 goals during their losing streak, four in one game.

Evans gathered Jared McCann’s cross-ice pass and scored with a wrist shot from the left face-off circle as Vejmelka sprawled across the crease. Evans was playing in his 24th NHL game, all this season.

“Obviously, it took a little bit, but it’s good to get the first one out of the way,” Evans said. “‘Canner’ made a great pass across and the goalie was way out of the crease, so I had a wide-open net.”

Evans, a defenseman, scored eight seconds after a Burakovsky shot struck the crossbar.

“He loves hockey, he’s super dedicated and he’s worked super hard, and I'm really happy for him,” Daccord said. “It's a big moment to get your first NHL goal and we're all really excited for him.”

Jack McBain had appeared to tie it for the Coyotes at 11:27 of the third, but the goal was overturned upon an officials’ review because McBain kicked the puck in with his skate.

The Coyotes aren’t in contention for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but Guenther said, “A lot of people would love to play the final 15 games of a season in the NHL. Everybody in this room is playing for something, and we can carry this momentum into next season.”

NOTES: Seattle scored a power-play goal in each of its previous four games but was 0-for-3 with the man-advantage Friday. Arizona was 0-for-2 and is 1-for-11 in its past six games. … Daccord played three seasons at Arizona State University from 2016-19 but never played in Mullett Arena, which opened for the 2022-23 season. The Coyotes share the rink with ASU. …Seattle was 4-0-1 in its previous five against Arizona. … Keller’s four-game goal streak matched his NHL career high. … Arizona is 6-5 in overtime. … Guenther has four points (two goals, two assists) during a four-game point streak.