Logan Cooley scored his first career National Hockey League hat-trick in just his 73rd game to help the Arizona Coyotes halt the Nashville Predators’ 18-game point streak on Thursday night.
The rookie was instrumental in the win, helping the Yotes down the Preds 8-4 in front of the 4,600 in attendance at Mullett Arena in Tempe. And the 19-year-olds reaction to the electric performance proves he should be a great player in this league for years to come.
“It’s always fun playing against the best guys in the League, the best teams. I think it brings out the best in us,” Cooley said after the victory, according to NHL.com’s Alan Robinson. “For me, personally, I like playing against the really good guys. You get up for those games a little more, and that one was a fun one.”
Spoken like a veteran, although the former No. 3 overall pick in the 2022 NHL draft is still early into his professional career. Of course, he was still pretty excited to score three goals in a game for the first time.
“That was a special moment,” he said with a smile.
Coyotes long out of playoff race, but still having fun out there
The Coyotes were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention earlier this week, and currently sit a full 20 points back of the final wild card berth in the Western Conference.
The team has struggled mightily as the rebuild continues in the desert, but the roster still boasts some top end offensive talent.
Clayton Keller had a goal and three assists on Thursday night, Nick Schmaltz added a goal and an apple, and Josh Doan — the son of Coyotes legend Shane — added two assists to give him four points in his first two NHL games.
There’s nothing left to play for in Arizona this season, and the team looks better off for it. The players are clearly having fun out there, and Cooley’s explosion onto the scene should help accelerate the rebuild.
On Thursday, the Coyotes did have something to play for — halting an insane Predators streak that had seen Smashville go 16-0-2 since a 9-2 loss to the Dallas Stars in mid-February.
“We knew they were on a streak and playing really good hockey, and we took a deep breath and relaxed and found our game and kind of took off after that,” Cooley explained, per Robinson.
Probably not many expected it to be the Yotes to end the streak, but the high-end talent was on full display in Tempe. And head coach Andre Tourigny was impressed — especially with the top line.
“We started to play our A game in the second,” said the bench boss. “[The Keller-Nick Bjugstad-Nick Schmaltz line] were playing against their top line and that goes under the radar a little bit. (Ryan) O’Reilly and (Filip) Forsberg and (Gustav) Nyquist are an elite line in the League.”
The Coyotes will be back in action when the President’s Trophy-leading New York Rangers visit Mullett Arena on Saturday night.
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