'Yotes Notes: Stepan Scores Two Shorties vs. Avalanche

GLENDALE --Derek Stepan accomplished a rather noteworthy feat in an otherwise forgettable game by the Coyotes on Saturday night at Gila River Arena.
Stepan scored not one, but two shorthanded goals in a 6-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche in Arizona's final game before a League-mandated three-day break for the Christmas holiday.

Ironically, the Coyotes entered Saturday's game with zero shorthanded goals in their first 37 games. Against Colorado, Stepan scored two shorties within a span of 9:56 over two periods. His second goal pulled Arizona to within 4-2 at 8:08 of the third period.

Stepan, who now has nine shorthanded goals on his NHL resume, became just the third player in Coyotes/Jets history to score two shorthanded goals in one game. The others are Tobias Rieder (vs. Edmonton on 12/01/14) and Keith Tkachuk (vs. Vancouver on 04/07/95).
• The Coyotes, who beat Washington on home ice on Friday night, allowed Colorado to score four goals within a span of 3:46 in the second period and couldn't recover.
"When you're in a back-to-back situation you have to be at your sharpest," Stepan said. "We were sharp for a period and a half and then the wheels came off and they scored four quick ones. You get scored on four times it's going to be tough to come back."
• Antti Raanta stopped 16 of 19 shots before being removed from the game at 13:26 of the second period. Scott Wedgewood replaced Raanta and stopped just six of the nine shots he faced.
• With the loss, Arizona dropped to 0-5-1 in the second game of back-to-back games this season.
"They got three power-play goals, we got none," Head Coach Rick Tocchet said. "Our goalie was just OK tonight, and a couple of guys were not good. You just put that in a blender and you come out with a 6-2 loss."
• Clayton Keller assisted on Stepan's first goal to extend his point streak to five games.
• Brad Richardson left the game with an upper-body injury in the second period and did not return. Tocchet did not have an update on Richardson's condition immediately after the game.

• Anthony Duclair played 14:48 and took four shots on goal in his first game back in the lineup after sitting out two games in a row as a healthy scratch. To make room for him in the lineup, Arizona scratched Brendan Perlini, who is healthy.
• Zac Rinaldo was given a match penalty and Josh Archibald received a game misconduct for their roles in a second-period melee that ignited the Avalanche's four-goal outburst. Rinaldo sparked the rough play with a hard yet clean hit on Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon.
• The Coyotes will resume play on Wednesday at Colorado. It's the first of 44 games Arizona has left on its schedule.
"We've got to reboot," Tocchet said. "You can go two ways as an individual. You can just feel sorry for yourself in the next 40 and just have a worse year than you have, or you can bounce back. That's what we're looking for. We're looking for some guys to bounce back; have some pride."