Senators extend Coyotes’ losing streak to 7 games

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) Mark Kastelic spent the build-up to the game with family and friends. He signed a hockey stick for a kid during pregame warmups, something he rarely does.

When the puck wasn’t in play, Kastelic found himself sneaking peeks into the crowd, even finding his mom in the corner.

Kastelic’s first NHL game in his hometown was going to be memorable no matter what. He added the perfect topper to a perfect day by scoring the winning goal.

Kastelic scored in the third period to give Ottawa a two-goal lead and the Senators held on to beat his hometown Arizona Coyotes 5-3 on Thursday night.

“It’s very surreal,” Kastelic said. “I’ve dreamed about this moment since I was a kid. You kind of have a lot of ups and downs along the way, and I’m finally here. It was really special.”

The Senators jumped out to an early two-goal lead and spent the rest of the night fighting off the pesky Coyotes.

Brady Tkachuk, another Arizona native, and Derick Brassard scored in a testy first period that included Arizona All-Star Clayton Keller‘s cross-checking game misconduct.

The Coyotes cut two-goal deficits in half three times, the last on Barrett Hayton‘s backhander with 2:44 left. Arizona then pulled goalie Karel Vejmelka and sent a flurry of shots at Anton Forsberg, but Artem Zub scored on an empty net to end it.

Alex DeBrincat also scored and Forsberg stopped 27 shots.

“It’s hard to win in this league,” Senators coach D.J. Smith said. “We’ve been in those games where we’ve been beat up on the shot clock and you just stay in the game. You can’t cheat.”

The Coyotes made them work for it.

Arizona fought back from a shaky, penalty-filled first period with scrappiness and timely goals. The Coyotes came up just short, stretching their losing streak to seven games.

Dylan Guenther had a goal and an assist, and Lawson Crouse also scored for Arizona. Vejmelka had 42 saves.

“We put an effort in tonight and came up a little short,” Crouse said. “We’re…