'Yotes Notes: Rieder Sets Career-High for Goals

GLENDALE -- Forward Tobias Rieder set a career-high for goals in a season on Saturday night and helped Arizona eke out a 5-4 win over New Jersey at Gila River Arena.
Rieder notched his 15th goal of the campaign at 2:53 of the first period. The three-year NHL veteran's previous high for goals in a season was 14, which he set last season. He scored 13 goals as a rookie in 2014-15.

"It feels good," said Rieder, who works on his shot in practice with regularity. "I feel like I could have reached (15 goals) a little earlier, but sometimes they go in, sometimes they don't. It's good that it (the work) pays off."

With 15 goals, Rieder ranks second on the team behind only Radim Vrbata.
"He's got confidence that he knows he can play in this league," said Head Coach Dave Tippett, who has been playing Rieder at right wing instead of left wing lately. "He knows he can score in this league. If you ask him he probably wishes that he had more confidence because he has enough chances where he feels like he should have more (goals)."

Rieder's shooting percentage this season is 11.2, which is way up from his first two NHL seasons (6.9 and 7.4).
"He's just a really good player in all situations," Tippett said. "He's a really smart player that has good skill, good speed and I think he'll continue to improve and continue to capitalize on his chances."
• Goalie Mike Smith made 26 saves to earn his first victory since Feb. 20.
Leading 5-4, Smith closed his pads just in time to stop a penalty shot by Taylor Hall with 2:38 left in the third period.
"I don't know what his move was, but I've played against him for quite a few years now," Smith said. "You try and be patient and make him make the first move. I was fortunate to make a save there."

The win was Smith's 126th with the Coyotes, which ties him with Nikolai Khabibulin for third place on the franchise's list for victories. Only Ilya Bryzgalov (130) and Bob Essensa (129) have more.
• Rookie Jakob Chychrun notched a goal and two assists for his first three-point game in the NHL. Chychrun has scored six goals in 54 games. Only Zach Werenski of Columbus has scored more goals - nine in 67 games - than Chychrun among first-year defensemen.
• Rookie Tony DeAngelo produced a goal and an assist for his first multi-point outing in the NHL. DeAngelo scored his goal - the game-winner - through traffic from the top of the slot at 13:31 of the third period.
"They were scrambling a bit, so I had some time," said DeAngelo, a New Jersey native who played against his home state team for the first time. "It worked out."

• Vrbata notched his team-high 16th goal of the season at 1:27 of the first period and moved past Jeremy Roenick and Laurie Boschman into eighth place on the franchise's all-time goal scoring list.
• Defenseman Connor Murphy quietly played a solid game with an assist, five blocked shots and five hits.
• Forward Jordan Martinook chipped in two assists and won 11 face-offs, and he also blocked a shot late in the third period when New Jersey had an extra attacker on the ice.
• Arizona, which entered the game 3-for-40 on the power play over 13 games, scored two power-play goals for the first time since Dec. 21.