Keller stays hot, but Coyotes fall to Flames in final game before All-Star break
Clayton Keller might wish there was no interruption to the Coyotes game schedule, given his production of late.
In the Coyotes' last game before Keller heads to Las Vegas for the NHL All-Star Game, he scored his 17th goal and added his 21st assist of the season. Keller has a six-game point streak and his 17 goals through 45 team games are the most by a Coyote since Radim Vrbata had 22 in 2011-12, according to the team.
The Coyotes (11-30-4) lost 4-2 to the Calgary Flames behind 50 shots on goal for the Flames. It was the most the Coyotes have allowed to an opponent in a game this season.
"He's been working. competing, wanting to make a difference. For me, he just gets what he deserves in the sense that he earns everything," Coyotes head coach André Tourigny said. "Better? I don't know. To me, he's really consistent."
Karel Vejmelka played the entire game and tied a career high with 46 saves in goal for the Coyotes, which he's had two other times this season.
"I would hope our whole group would take it personally," Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun said, asked about Vejmelka's busy night. "It's just they outplayed us. You can't let your goalie see that many shots in a night. Luckily 'Veggie,' like he has been all year, was great ... and really, really kept us in it and gave us a chance at the end."
Blake Coleman put in an unlucky deflection off a Flames teammate less than 3 minutes into the game to give Calgary the lead. Coleman also scored in the third period.
Later in the first period, Chychrun's shot from the point zipped into traffic, where Alex Galchenyuk was one of two Coyotes nearby and got the puck deflection for his second goal in as many nights. It tied the score at 8:34 of the first.
Keller got a secondary assist.
The Coyotes were badly outshot in the opening 20 minutes, and Calgary's 26th shot on goal of the game, with 10 seconds left, was a goal for Elias Lindholm.
Arizona had just eight first-period shots and 28 for the game.
Keller made it 2-2 at 4:14 of the second period, his heavy one-timer going into a high corner of the net.
But the Flames had another answer, Christopher Tanev's goal coming with 4:45 left in the second.
Tourigny said he'd like to see the Coyotes improve on offense after the All-Star break. He's been satisfied with the consistency of the team's effort, and doesn't want the character of the team to change.
"We have a level of consistency in our work ethic and our approach and our competitiveness, and we want to keep that," he said.
Defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin was a healthy scratch, just his second missed game of the season. Forward Liam O'Brien got five minutes for fighting, giving him 94 penalty minutes on the season after he entered the game as the NHL's leader in that category.
O'Brien has 10 fights this season, according to the fight-tracking site hockeyfights.com. It was also the 20th fight of the season for the Coyotes, which is the highest team total since the 2016-2017 season.
O'Brien was roughed up by the Flames' Erik Gudbranson Wednesday's fight, after he'd delivered a hard but clean hit to the Calgary defenseman in the first period.
"Honestly for me, I know what my job is, and I get to play in the National Hockey League," O'Brien said. "I don't think there's anything better than that. So for me, I'd show up and do this every night."
'Bear' track
Tourigny said the coaching staff will take the next few days to spend time with family. He was asked about the importance of the break for everyone on the team.
Up next
The Coyotes don't play until Feb. 8 at Vancouver, with the NHL All-Star Weekend set for Friday night and Saturday. The next three weeks were originally scheduled for the Winter Olympics break. However, NHL players are not taking part, so the time will be used to make up some previously postponed games.
The team gets Thursday through Sunday off, then resumes practice next Monday ahead of a trip to British Columbia and Seattle.
Get in touch with Jose Romero at Jose.Romero@gannett.com. Find him on Twitter at @RomeroJoseM.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Keller stays hot, but Arizona Coyotes fall to Calgary Flames
