Johan Larsson's hat trick leads Coyotes past Blackhawks

[January 07, 2022] Johan Larsson recorded a hat trick and Travis Boyd netted one goal and two assists to lead the Arizona Coyotes to a 6-4 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in Glendale, Ariz., on Thursday.

Clayton Keller and Dysin Mayo also scored, while Shayne Gostisbehere and Phil Kessel recorded two assists for the Coyotes. Goaltender Karel Vejmelka made 32 saves.

Jonathan Toews replied for Chicago with one goal and one assist, while Kirby Dach, MacKenzie Entwistle and Alex DeBrincat also scored. Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 20 shots.

Mayo scored his first goal since his NHL debut -- snapping a 25-game drought -- to open the scoring at the 3:16 mark. After Gostisbehere eluded a check at the blueline and slid the puck to Mayo, he raced down the left wing and converted a shot from the face-off dot.

Larsson's first goal of the season -- and first in 24 games going back to last season -- doubled the lead with 53.1 seconds remaining in the first period. Janis Moser's high point shot banked off his arm and into the cage.
 

It was just the fourth time this season that the Coyotes had led after the first period and the first time they had won one of those.

That edge was erased quickly. Dach put the Blackhawks on the board 61 seconds into the second period when he batted a puck mid-air for his sixth goal of the season.

Arizona Coyotes goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) makes a save against the Chicago Blackhawks during the first period at Gila River Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Then Entwistle tied the score by finishing off a two-on-one rush at the 5:24 mark of the second period. It was his fourth goal of the season.

However, Boyd restored the Coyotes' lead at the midway point with his eighth goal of the season. He made a nifty redirect of Kessel's shot-pass for a power-play marker.

Keller doubled the Arizona edge for a second time when his long shot somehow made it through the maze of players in front of the net at 3:10 of the third period. That gave him 11 goals on the season.

Larsson added his second of the game 51 seconds later, on a power play.

Toews made it a two-goal deficit when a point shot banked off him at 6:29 of the third period, his fifth of the year. DeBrincat's power-play goal brought the visitors within a goal with 6:39 remaining in regulation.

But Larsson's empty-net goal with 28.8 seconds remaining iced the game.

--Field Level Media

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