'Yotes Notes: Crouse Scores Goal in First Game Back in NHL

DENVER --Lawson Crouse notched his first goal of the season on Wednesday night at the Pepsi Center in his first game back with the Coyotes after a recall from the American Hockey League.
Crouse, whom Arizona brought back from the AHL on Tuesday, skated 11:59 and scored a key insurance goal at 15:35 of the third period. Tobias Rieder and Alex Goligoski also scored for the Coyotes in a 3-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche.

"It felt real good," Crouse said about being back on NHL ice. "I spent a full year with these guys last year and I tried to stay positive through the whole process. Going down (to the AHL), I think it really helped my development, but it's really fun to be back. Starting off on the right foot is a real good experience and a lot of fun."
Crouse, who played seven games for Arizona earlier this season before being sent to the AHL in October, skated on a line with Christian Dvorak and newcomer Josh Archibald. The latter earned his first point with the Coyotes by setting up Crouse's goal with a nifty pass back to him on an odd-man rush.

"It's obviously a good feeling and it enables me to play with a little bit more confidence into the next game," Crouse said of his goal, his sixth in the NHL and his first since March 16 of last season. "But I know that those goals don't come easy and you've got to work for them. Just because I got one here in my first game (back) doesn't mean they're just going to start popping. I've got to keep working."

Crouse notched five goals and seven assists for the Coyotes in 72 games last season.
"I really wanted him to go down to Tucson and learn to hold onto pucks," Head Coach Rick Tocchet said. "When he was here, he was a little antsy with the puck. He was throwing pucks away ... He's a guy that can come in here and fill some energy and play a physical game. We need those types of players."
• The win over Colorado capped a busy day for the Coyotes, who started it by flying to Denver at 8 a.m. because the NHL does not allow teams to practice, play games or travel during its holiday break from Dec. 24-26.
"I thought we did a really nice job," Tocchet said. "It's not like we gave them a lot of chances. They've got some high-end talent and they hit a couple crossbars, but I thought we did a nice job defensively and we scored some key goals ... We had some good jump. I liked our jump tonight. It's tough, three days off without skating and you have to travel (the day of the game). It was a good character win for us."

• Rieder gave Arizona a 1-0 lead by scoring his sixth goal of the season just 54 seconds into the game. He said avenging a 6-2 loss to Colorado in Glendale on Dec. 23 was sweet.
"It feels great," Rieder said. "We were talking about it before the game, how they owe us one, so it feels good to get them back ... It feels good to get the win today. We tried our best. Everyone put a smile on their face and everyone was excited to play again."

• Clayton Keller set up Goligoski's game-winning goal at 10:34 of the second period with a crisp pass from the right wing to the top of the slot. The assist stretched Keller's point streak to six games, one shy of his career-long point streak set earlier this season.
Keller is the second NHL rookie this season to compile two point streaks of six games or more. Mathew Barzal of the New York Islanders is the other.

• Antti Raanta stopped 25 of 26 shots to earn his first victory since Nov. 20 at Toronto.
"The team effort was really good today," Raanta said. "We kept doing the right things, and when you do the right things sometimes the puck luck is a little bit on your side."

• With the victory, the Coyotes improved to 5-0-1 in the first game of back-to-back games this season. Arizona will host Toronto on Thursday.
• The Coyotes played minus center Brad Richardson, who suffered an upper-body injury vs. Colorado on Dec. 23. Richardson did not accompany the team to Denver and likely will miss at least the next two games.
Tocchet said Richardson's injury is not serious, but added "it's more than a day-to-day thing."
• The Coyotes also played minus forward Zac Rinaldo. The NHL suspended Rinaldo for six games just before Wednesday's game for punching Colorado defenseman Samuel Girard in the game played Dec. 23 at Gila River Arena.