March 1, 2013
A mundane, otherwise-disappointing loss to the Wild on Thursday still provided one of the strangest and most memorable goals of the Coyotes' season to date (and maybe ever).
With just under five minutes left in the game and the Coyotes trailing 4-1, defenseman Keith Yandle brought the puck over the blue line near the boards and dumped it in off the glass. As the puck got to the corner, it deflected off the stanchion, ricocheted toward the side of the net, took one bounce, hit the back of the knee of Wild goalie Nicklas Backstrom and deflected into the net.
There are weird bounces and there are, well, whatever this was:
And for a better view, go to 0:29 of the game recap:
Those sorts of ricochets occasionally result in goals when the goalie bails early to try to play the puck behind the net, but with the goalie still in the crease and against the post? Not so much.
If not for a terrible first 55 minutes, that goal might have made for a great story about the Coyotes creating their own luck (or some other hockey cliche) en route to a miraculous come-from-behind win. Alas; that goal got the Coyotes back within two, and they scored again minutes later to cut the deficit to 4-3, but that was where the comeback ended.
Yandle aptly summarized his third goal of the year in a postgame interview with FOX Sports Arizona's Todd Walsh.
"It was just luck, I guess."
-- Matt Swartz
