'Yotes Notes: Arizona Ends Long Trip with Loss at LA

LOS ANGELES -- The Coyotes finished a 10-day, six-game road trip with a 4-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night at the Staples Center.
Darcy Kuemper, who played 19 games for LA this season before being traded to Arizona last month, stopped 31 of 34 shots in his first game against the Kings since the swap.
Jeff Carter scored a goal in each period to spoil Kuemper's bid to beat his former team and punctuate his 900th NHL game.

The loss dropepd Arizona's record to 3-3-0 on the lengthy journey, which included stops, and wins, in Buffalo, Tampa Bay and Las Vegas.
"We knew it was going to be a tough game ... but I give the guys credit," Head Coach Rick Tocchet said. "We had some guys that played a lot of minutes and were tired, but it's a 2-2 game late in the game. Carter had a hell of a game. He had three goals. He's a world-class player. We had a couple of chances, but I'm proud of the team. We had a good road trip and the guys played hard."
Like Tocchet, Kuemper liked the effort his new teammates displayed in front of him in the finale.
"I think the guys played like they've been playing this whole trip," Kuemper said. "They played hard. If you didn't know, you wouldn't have thought it was at the end of a 10-day road trip."
Kuemper is 2-6-1 in nine games with Arizona.

• Max Domi notched a goal and an assist in the defeat, which he said the Coyotes should file as an example of how a team should play when trying to earn a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"That's a team fighting for a playoff spot right now (with) a lot of experience," Domi said. "I think that (game) can go in the memory bank ... It's a good test for us, but a really good learning experience too, so we'll take that and move forward. We've got four games left, and hopefully we can make the most of those."

• Kevin Connauton scored Arizona's first goal at 12:26 of the first period. The goal was Connauton's third in the past two games and his 10th of the season - a new career-high.
• Trevor Murphy helped set up Domi's goal at 5:14 of the second period to tally his first NHL assist.
• Clayton Keller failed to notch a point, ending his career-high point streak at 10 games. Keller did make the game's highlight reel by turning the puck over deep in Arizona's zone and then making an acrobatic save while providing support for Kuemper in Arizona's crease.

• The Coyotes, who played at Vegas on Wednesday night, started well vs. LA and led 1-0 and 2-1.
"I loved our energy," Tocchet said. "We wanted short shifts, drive the tempo, (but) we ran into some penalties. We had to kill six minutes of penalties in the second. I think that gassed a lot of our guys."

• Zac Rinaldo delivered a game-high seven hits in 13:46, and Brad Richardson won nine of 13 face-offs.
• Immediately after the final horn, each member of the Coyotes - and the Kings - skated over to referee Dave Jackson, shook his hand and wished him well on his retirement after his final game. Jackson, a 25-year veteran, officiated 1,629 games.