Andre Tourigny thinks his scrappy Arizona Coyotes showed their worth during an inspired 2-0 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights in Sin City on Saturday night.
"It was pretty close to a Picasso (painting) for a coach," the bench boss told reporters postgame. "We were urgent, focused all night long. ... It's a Stanley Cup champion team on the other side. The way we played defensively, the way we managed the puck, the way we managed our game, that's what we were begging for for a while."
"That's what we're capable of," Tourigny added. "I'm not saying we'll play 82 like that, but with the mindset we had, we need to copy and paste."
The goaltenders - Connor Ingram for Arizona and Logan Thompson for Vegas - were the main storyline of the contest through the first two periods. The tilt remained scoreless until the midway mark of the final frame when Coyotes star Clayton Keller broke the deadlock with his eighth tally of the season. Keller's goal would be the only one that beat a netminder in the game, as Lawson Crouse iced the outing with an empty-netter.
Ingram was undoubtedly Arizona's MVP after turning aside all 34 shots he faced for his second career shutout. He saved 3.37 goals above expected to help the Coyotes end a three-game losing streak that saw them tumble two places in the Central Division standings.
"We've had some long meetings there the past couple of days just trying to get things back on track, so I think that was a great response from everybody," Ingram said. "That's a good win to learn from and to build on."
The victory didn't come easy for the Coyotes, who were outshot 34-18. Arizona's lineup was also heavily depleted: In addition to still being without centers Barrett Hayton and Jack McBain, as well as rearguard Travis Dermott, key blue-liner Matt Dumba missed the contest with a lower-body injury.
The Coyotes played half the game with five defensemen after Vladislav Kolyachonok went down with a lower-body ailment in the middle stanza. Troy Stecher led the team in ice time after playing for a season-high 26:49 minutes.
"The way our guys responded on the back end, really proud of them," Tourigny said.
The Coyotes are attempting to move into the next phase of their rebuild this season and currently sit six points behind the Dallas Stars for third place in their division.
Next up for Arizona is a clash against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.
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