Nick Cousins scored in the shootout and Antti Raanta made 23 saves as the Arizona Coyotes beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 on Wednesday for their first win.
Dylan Strome and Brad Richardson scored for Arizona (1-2), who dropped their first 11 games last season.
“It’s huge. Because of what happened last year, it is a big relief,” Cousins said. “I think it relieves some pressure.”
Photo: AFP
The Coyotes got their first goal this season when Strome converted a power-play opportunity with 2.5 minutes remaining in the first. They were the last NHL team to score.
“I just looked and there was a lot of relief. We didn’t want to go another period without scoring a goal,” Strome said.
Coach Rick Tocchet also looked relieved that he did not have to answer any more questions about when his team were going to get their first victory.
“We are going to enjoy the win,” Tocchet said. “We have some work to do, but there was a lot of chances on both teams tonight, especially early on.”
Anaheim were trying for the first 4-0 start in franchise history. Ryan Kesler and Ben Street scored for the Ducks (3-0-1), and John Gibson made 37 saves.
“We didn’t manage the puck properly in some areas,” coach Randy Carlyle said. “We had people on the wrong side of it in some of the battles.”
Kesler returned to the lineup after missing the first three games. The center had hip surgery in June last year and played in only 44 games last season.
Kesler centered the third line and scored on his third shift 5 minutes, 52 seconds into the first period. He battled for the puck in front of the Arizona goal before firing it past Raanta to give Anaheim a 1-0 lead.
“To be able to score that goal that early on in the game definitely feels really good,” Kesler said. “Everything I went through for the past year and a half, it hasn’t been fun. I had fun out there tonight.”
Street’s goal 14 minutes, 39 seconds into the second period was his first in the NHL. At 31 years and 240 days, he is the oldest player to score his first NHL goal with Anaheim in the 25-year history of the franchise.
In Washington, Evgeny Kuznetsov continued his dominance against the Vegas Golden Knights, scoring a goal and assisting on three more as part of a 5-2 Washington Capitals victory in a rematch of last season’s Stanley Cup Final.
Kuznetsov assisted on two goals by Alex Ovechkin and one by Nicklas Backstrom, and scored his own during a power play.
The leading scorer in the Cup Final with eight points in five games, Kuznetsov has seven points through the defending champions’ first three games of the regular season.
Coming off a 49-goal season and a Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, Ovechkin has four goals in three games. The 610th and 611th goals of his career put him in sole possession of 17th on the NHL’s career list, passing Bobby Hull.
Braden Holtby stopped 29 of 31 shots and bailed out his teammates during an especially sloppy second period. Holtby allowed goals to Cody Eakin in the second period and Reilly Smith in the third.
Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury allowed four goals on 28 shots. His teammates hit the post a handful of times and went 0 for 3 on power plays and were 0 for 11 so far this season.
In Ottawa, Jakub Voracek and Scott Laughton scored two goals apiece as the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Ottawa Senators 7-4.
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