'Yotes Notes: Merkley Makes NHL Debut vs. Panthers

GLENDALE -- Forward Nick Merkley, a first-round draft pick from two years ago, made his NHL debut with the Coyotes on Tuesday night vs. Florida at Gila River Arena.
Playing on a line with center Christian Dvorak and winger Zac Rinaldo, Merkley skated 13:30 in a game Arizona led 2-0, but lost 3-2.

"I actually felt pretty comfortable," Merkley said after the game. "I thought it went pretty good for me. I thought I made a few plays. My linemates were good. It felt good to be out there. It's going to be tough to remember this game and the way we lost, but it was a very exciting day for me overall and pretty surreal. I'm sure my parents are proud of me. It felt good to be out there, but I know it would feel a lot better with a win."

Merkley, whom Arizona drafted 30th overall in 2015, played 2:03 of power-play time and was on the ice for a long shift in the game's final minute as the Coyotes were scrambling to tie the score with an extra attacker on the ice. Merkley said it felt good to be part of key situations in his first game in the League.
"That's the kind of role I want to be playing," Merkley said. "Obviously, I need to produce and show up in those big moments. Hopefully I can do that here in the future."
• Head Coach Rick Tocchet was left scratching his head by the way the Coyotes collapsed defensively in the third period. After allowing Florida just 14 shots over the first two periods, Arizona gave up 12 and two goals in the final period.
"It's really disappointing for me," Tocchet said. "I'm kind of embarrassed for the fans because we had this game and we gave it to them. A couple individuals, I don't understand what they're doing on some of those plays. This is probably the most disappointed I've been with the team all year ... I just don't understand how we have the game in control and all of a sudden it just turns. We gave them two blatant goals. It just makes no sense for me. We'll get it right. We're going to weed some people out of here eventually and get this thing right."

• Leading 2-0, the Coyotes let Florida score a goal with just 9.7 seconds left in the second period. Derek Stepan, who lost a face-off in Arizona's zone just before the Panthers scored, said that goal was crucial to how the game ultimately unfolded.
"I think we did a lot of good things for a period and a half," said Stepan, who scored Arizona's second goal and won 17 of 28 draws. "... I know the face-off at the end of the second period was a big blunder. I'm going to take the onus on this one. I was not very good tonight and I cost us a game tonight. It sucks. As a leader, you have to play way better than I did tonight."
• Christian Fischer was credited with Arizona's first goal after a shot by Clayton Keller from the point bounced off Fischer's leg and past Panthers goalie James Reimer at 15:51 of the first period. The assist by Keller strteched his point streak to three games.
• The win by Florida was its first in regulation over the Coyotes in Glendale since 1999, and it extended Arizona's losing streak to seven games (0-6-1).
• Arizona lost despite out-shooting Florida 41-26. The Coyotes set a season-high for shots in one period when they peppered Reimer with 23 in the first 20 minutes.
"They just took control of the third period and we didn't really have a response," said Fischer, who co-led the team with six shots. "They scored that late goal in the second, but we're still up a goal and need to find a way. We're on a losing streak, so we've got to find a way in this locker room to grind that out."

• Antti Raanta made 23 saves in his third consecutive start.
"Even though it's like a broken record, we just need to keep on working," Raanta said. "Even though it feels like nothing is going your way, and every bounce is not going your way, you need to earn those. If you're not working hard enough and you're not putting everything on the line every shift, every minute, every period, in this league the games will turn and that's the big problem for us right now."

• Before the game, the Coyotes sent forward Dylan Strome back to the American Hockey League to make room on the roster for forward Josh Archibald, whom they acquired in a trade with Pittsburgh earlier in the day.
General Manager John Chayka said Strome, the third overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, needs to "refine" his game.
"He's a good kid," Chayka said. "He's going to go down there and work hard. I think it's just the overall speed and strength of the game is what he's got to continue to work on and there's more opportunity to do that at the American league level than here. Our travel schedule is crazy. Every shift, every game means so much. It's tough to find those opportunities to continue to develop here. Down there (in Tucson), we've got the resources in place to continue to develop players. That's the place for development, not here."