NEWARK, N.J. — Barrett Hayton scored his first NHL goal early in the third period, Antti Raanta was outstanding in making 32 saves and the Arizona Coyotes overcame two deficits to beat Jack Hughes and the New Jersey Devils 5-3 on Friday night.
Nick Schmaltz, Michael Grabner and Oliver Ekman-Larsson also scored as the Coyotes won their fifth in six games. Clayton Keller added an empty-net goal for his first of the season to ice it with 1:40 to play
Hughes, the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, had his best game, scoring once and setting up goals by Sami Vatanen and Pavel Zacha. Mackenzie Blackwood had a tough night in net, giving up four goals on 17 shots as the Devils’ modest two-game winning streak was snapped.
Hayton, the fifth pick in last year’s draft, redirected Schmaltz’s pass under Blackwood to cap a 2-on-1 break 1:45 into the final period to break a 3-all tie.
The Devils had chances to tie it late but Raanta denied Wayne Simmonds on a power play and Nico Hischier hit the post with a shot.
Hughes, who had a goal and an assist in his first eight games, had a goal and two assists in the first two periods Friday in helping the Devils take leads of 2-0 and 3-2.
The Coyotes rallied each time and the teams were tied 3-all heading into the third.
Ekman-Larsson tied it at 3 with a shot from the left circle that seemed to go right through Blackwood’s glove.
Zacha had given New Jersey the lead 31 seconds earlier from the left circle after being sprung by Hughes’ long pass from the defensive zone.
Hughes also had the primary assist on Vatanen’s game-opening goal at 16:29 of the first period. The defenceman took a cross-ice pass from Hughes and sent the puck from the corner toward the net. It hit off the skate of Coyotes defenceman Alex Goligoski and deflected in.
Hughes got his second goal less than two minutes later with a laser shot from the right faceoff circle into the top corner on a power play for a 2-0 lead.
Schmaltz woke up the Coyotes with 17 seconds left in the period. He took a pass from Ekman-Larsson between the circles and beat Blackwood to the corner.
Grabner tied the game 2-all at 2:01 of the second, scoring his 22nd career short-handed goal with a backhand on a breakaway.
Notes
Grabner is second among active players in short-handed goals, trailing only Brad Marchand (26) of Boston. … Coyotes D Jason Demers got his 200th point on Schmaltz’s goal. He is the third player taken in the fifth round or later in the 2008 draft to reach 200 points. The others are Cam Atkinson (Columbus) and Jared Spurgeon (Minnesota). … The Devils placed D Connor Carrick on injured reserve with an upper-body injury sustained in practice Thursday. D Will Butcher was activated off IR.
Up Next
Coyotes: Finish a four-game road trip at Buffalo on Monday.
Devils: Host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday, their second game in 11 days.
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Tom Canavan, The Associated Press