'Yotes Notes: Holland Produces Two Assists in Debut

Center Peter Holland notched two assists in his debut with the Coyotes on Tuesday night as Arizona defeated the Detroit Red Wings, 4-1, at Joe Louis Arena.
Holland played 14:18 on a line with Jamie McGinn and Anthony Duclair, and the trio combined for five points. Holland helped set up McGinn's first goal at 2:39 of the second period and McGinn's second goal at 11:27 of the third period. It was the 11th multi-point game of Holland's NHL career and his first since Feb. 23 of last season.

Arizona acquired Holland via a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs last Friday, but it took a few days for him to join the team because of work visa issues. Tuesday's game was his first since Nov. 26. He played just eight of 25 games for Toronto this season before being traded. He was a healthy scratch 17 times.
"It seemed like once we got that first (goal) in the second period, we started clicking a little bit more," Holland said of his line. "It felt good to help out offensively and just get back in and play a role."
Head Coach Dave Tippett liked what he saw from the new center.
"He's just a solid NHL guy," Tippett said. "He controls the middle ... Since (Brad) Richardson went down, we've just been struggling to try to get any stability in the middle. He's an experienced guy that even though he hasn't played in a couple weeks, (he) came in and played a solid game for us."
Holland didn't play in Arizona's 7-0 loss to Pittsburgh on Monday, but he could sense his new teammates had something to prove on Tuesday.
"Guys were talking about it before the game and even at pregame meal," Holland said. "It was a bit of somber attitude, as it is after an embarrassing defeat the night before. So I think guys really wanted to come out and rebound tonight, and I think everyone did a really good job of that."

McGinn liked the chemistry on his line and was impressed by how well Holland played in his first game in 17 days.
"He's got good hockey sense and he made some good plays," McGinn said. "...We worked well together. We had fun. I think that's the main thing, when you have fun out there good things happen. When you're frustrated, that's when things can go south."
• Goalie Mike Smith stopped 37 shots, including all 18 he faced in the third period when the Red Wings tried to frantically get back into the game.
"Mike was really solid," Tippett said. "That's the way he's been for most of the year. He's been outstanding ... Hopefully we can give him a little less work a few times."
Smith was pleased the Coyotes were able to rebound from the humbling loss to Pittsburgh.
"We did a lot of the things that it takes to win hockey games," Smith told reporters. "The offense took its chances and everyone made plays. We knew what happened last night and no one wanted to see that again. We're a better team than that."
• Rookie Lawson Crouse scored his second goal of the season with just 15.6 seconds left in the first period to break a 1-1 tie.
"That was a huge goal for us," Tippett said. "Being able to take a lead out of that period was great for our confidence."

• Rookie Jakob Chychrun, who played youth hockey at Joe Louis Arena, notched an assist on McGinn's first goal in his first NHL game in Detroit. Arizona selected Chychrun with the 16th overall draft pick this year after acquiring the pick from the Red Wings in a trade for Pavel Datsyuk's contract. Rookie Brendan Perlini also played youth hockey at "The Joe."
• Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson assisted on Anthony DeAngelo's power-play goal at 2:01 of the first period. The assist extended Ekman-Larsson's point streak vs. Detroit to six games.
• Arizona did not allow the Red Wings to get a shot on goal until the 14:27 mark of the first period.
• With the win, the Coyotes/Jets franchise finished with a 25-34-8-3 regular-season record vs. Detroit at Joe Louis Arena, which will close at the end of this season.
• Before the game, the Coyotes announced that forward Max Domi underwent successful hand surgery on Tuesday and that he would be sidelined indefinitely.
• Defenseman Connor Murphy missed his second straight game because of an upper-body injury. Murphy did not travel with the team to Pittsburgh and Detroit to start this road trip. He is expected to join the team in Toronto on Wednesday.