Jacques Martin and Daniel Alfredsson had an early opportunity to take advantage of the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night at Mullett Arena, but they watched helplessly as their Ottawa Senators blew a lead and were defeated 4-3.
The new head coach and his assistant experienced their baptism of fire as a duo behind the bench, just over 24 hours after taking office. However, the “Sens’” bad habits caught up with them.
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This game seemed to be a long, smooth flow for the Senators, who took a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes. Connor Ingram was hounded after allowing three goals on six shots. Angus Crookshank scored his first National League goal, then Josh Norris and Dominik Kubalik added more.
The Coyotes finally turned heads in the second period. Joonas Korpisalo was tested 38 times and finally gave way to Jack McBain.
The home team surprised the “Sens” when they least expected it. In the third period, Matias Maccelli made a good check on Vladimir Tarasenko before recovering the puck. The return of his throw was sent into the net by JJ Moser.
Thirty-three seconds later, Clayton Keller tied the game with a shot in the top half. What was supposed to happen happened when the Coyotes scored a fourth goal with 3:33 left, thanks to Michael Kesselring.
Ottawa suffered its fifth consecutive defeat. Their next game is Thursday in Colorado against the Avalanche.