TEMPE, Ariz. — Lawson Crouse scored his second goal with 13.5 seconds left in the third period and the Arizona Coyotes returned home to end a 19-game losing streak to the Boston Bruins with a 4-3 victory Friday night.
It was the second-longest win streak against a single opponent in NHL history. The Canadiens won 23 straight against the Capitals from 1974-78.
The Coyotes returned from a 14-game road trip to play at Mullett Arena for the first time since Nov. 3. They got off to a great start when Josh Brown scored 23 seconds into the game and led 3-2 on Nick Schmaltz‘s third-period goal.
The NHL-leading Bruins tied it on Nick Foligno‘s power-play goal with 5 1/2 minutes left, but the Coyotes closed it out in the closing seconds after an icing was called off.
Jeremy Swayman let the puck trickle across the line and Arizona rookie Matias Maccelli snatched it between two defenders, feeding Crouse for a one-timer.
“I was kind of posting up on the blue line thinking it was going to be icing and he made a great pass,” Crouse said. “I just tried to get it up as quick as I could and it went in.”
Karel Vejmelka stopped 43 shots to help the Coyotes end a six-game losing streak.
David Pastrnak and Charlie Coyle each scored, and Swayman had 12 saves for the Bruins.
“They are a really good team, top one or two in the league,” Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said. “We went after them and really competed. That was a good win for our team.”
Arizona left the desert for its elongated road trip to give Arizona State time to finish an annex at the 5,000-seat shared Mullett Arena.
The Coyotes got the trip off to a good start with three straight wins, but went 1-7-3 the rest of the way.
They wasted no time feeling comfortable back at their temporary home, scoring 23 seconds in when Brown shot through a passing screen and beat Swayman to the glove side.
Pastrnak tied it on a power play four minutes later, punching in a rebound during a wild scramble in front of Vejmelka.
Jakob Chychrun to have put Arizona up 2-1 on a power play early in the second period, but the officials upheld Boston’s challenge that the Coyotes were offside. Boston then took the lead and this one counted when Coyle jammed in a rebound past Vejmelka from the edge of the crease.
The lead didn’t last long.
Crouse scored less than three minutes later by redirecting Shayne Gostisbehere‘s shot from above the left circle, then Vejmelka stopped consecutive breakaways in less than a minute.
Schmaltz needed 53 seconds of the third period to put Arizona back up, beating Swayman after a pass from Clayton Keller.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.