The hockey season has officially started with the Arizona Coyotes playing a home-and-home split squad pair of games against their arch rival Los Angeles Kings Monday night.

This is how the first game went down

The first game was played at Gila River Arena, and the Coyotes came out on top 5-3. The second game at Staples Center in Los Angeles went to the Kings by a 4-3 margin.

In the first game, the scoring for the Coyotes went like this:

Schenn scored his first goal as a member of the Coyotes, assisted by Max Domi and Radim Vrbata at 9:23 (power play goal). At 18:25 newly acquired Ryan White added a goal assisted by Brad Richardson and Michael Bunting. The first stanza ended with Arizona leading 2-1.

In the second period, the Kings tied it up at 0:15, but not for long. Max Domi added his first tally of the new season just 0:22 later. He was assisted by Justin Hache and Christian Dvorak, giving the Coyotes the lead 3-2.

Nearing the end of the middle stanza, Stefan Fournier lit the lamp with help from Zach Boychuk and Jamie McBain at 16:20. Arizona led 4-2. Fournier took on former Coyote bad boy Paul Bissonnette early in the game to settle who would get into fisticuffs with Biznasty. Bissonnette tacked on an extra two minutes to his five-minute fighting major for unsportsmanlike conduct. Oh course, he would deny his behavior was unsavory.

In the final 20 minutes of the game, the Kings tried to keep it close by scoring a power play goal at 5:01, but Arizona put the game away when Bunting added his second point of the game by scoring at 14:50. He was assisted by Richardson and White, who both enjoyed a two-point game.

The Kings outshot the Yotes 34-17, and Domi was named the first star, with Brendan Perlini the second star, and Schenn the third star. The goaltending was split between Mike Smith and Louis Domingue.

In the second game

The game in Los Angeles was pretty much dominated by the Kings. They took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by another former Coyote, Lucas Lessio. Tyler Toffoli cranked in the next goal on netminder Marek Langhamer.

Jakob Chychurn wants to make it on a crowded blueline roster for the Coyotes. Source: Jeffrey T. Barnes/Getty Images North America)
Jakob Chychurn wants to make it on a crowded blueline roster for the Coyotes | Source: Jeffrey T. Barnes - Getty Images North America

In the middle period, the Coyotes came back to cut the lead in half on a power play goal by Connor Murphy, assisted by Jamie McGinn and Jakob Chychurn.

But, the LA crew took a 3-1 lead into the locker room by scoring a power play goal of their own by Tanner Pearson with just nine ticks left on the clock.

That goal pretty much broke the Coyotes' momentum to pull off a comeback.

There was further evidence that the Kings wanted this game more when Brett Sutter tallied a goal at the 7:28 mark to really destroy the Yotes' night.

But, the Coyotes weren't quite done yet. They did mount a comeback of sorts when at 11:27 Henrik Samuelsson got one past the red line with help from Laurent Dauphin. The young prospects did try to get back into it but fell short when Dylan Strome scored with :49 left in the third.

Lawson Crouse and Anthony DeAngelo assisted on the Strome goal.

All in all, the two games helped the Arizona coaching and management staff see which players can perform under game conditions.

It was good to see the scoring spread around amongst so many of the prospects vying for a starting role on the Coyotes roster. Strome and Dvorak still remain as the favorites, but after these first two contests players like Bunting, Perlini, Dauphin, Samuelsson, and Chychurn are making a case for themselves.

The Coyotes move on to Anaheim for a game this evening against the Ducks, who were the Pacific Division champs last season.

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About the author
William Grigsby
I was born in Chicago, and have been following hockey my whole life. I moved to Arizona in 1974, and have been an Arizona Coyotes fan from the time they first moved here in 1996. I feel I can bring a new perspective to the team. I hope you will enjoy what I write. As of November 28, 2017 I am now the NHL Editor for VAVEL USA. If you are interested in joining me as a writer, please contact me at: [email protected] for details.