Carcone scores hat trick as Coyotes pound Blackhawks

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Michael Carcone had three goals and an assist in his first career hat trick, and the Arizona Coyotes pounded Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks 8-1 on Monday night.

Bedard scored 28 seconds into the game, and then it was all Arizona.

“It’s pretty crazy, I’m not going to lie,” Carcone said about his hat trick. “It’s definitely emotional for me. I’m proud of myself and proud of my linemates. Wake up tomorrow and move on. You can’t sit on this kind of stuff.”

Jack McBain had two goals and two assists for the Coyotes, who were coming off consecutive losses to the Los Angeles Kings in which they gave up 11 goals and failed to protect a 4-1 lead in a 5-4 loss Friday.

Carcone scored 2:23 into the first on a shot from a severe angle near the goal line, starting a three-goal period for Arizona.

“You could see that game against LA left a few scars,” Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said. “They scored on the first shift, but then we got a fortunate stick to score a a big goal at a key moment. From there we started to get our mojo back. We had good pace after that.”

Liam O'Brien and Sean Durzi each had a goal and an assist, and Alex Kerfoot had three assists.

Arizona led 7-1 after two periods. It was more than enough for Connor Ingram, who made 31 saves in the win.

Chicago stopped a three-game slide with a 4-3 overtime win at Vegas on Friday, handing the Golden Knights their first loss of the season. But the Blackhawks were unable to build on the effort.

“Disappointing,” Chicago forward Nick Foligno said. “It's going to be really weird to say this, but maybe it is a good thing it happens. We have five days to chew on it. I hope our team understands how you have to respect this league. I don't think anyone does it maliciously, but I think there is a little bit of ... we started off unbelievable, and it was like it's going to come easy for us.”

Ingram was seldom tested after Bedard, the No. 1 overall pick in the NHL draft, scored for the third time in four games. Bedard took a cross-ice pass from Kevin Korchinski near the right circle and skated in before flipping in a wrist shot on Ingram’s glove side.

The Coyotes improved to 4-4 for their best start in four seasons.

Brown made it 2-1 when he put in a rebound of McBain’s quick shot from out front, and Carcone scored on a power play after Bedard was called for slashing.

Carcone completed his hat trick five minutes into the second, when his shot from the side of the net trickled off Arvid Soderblom’s back and rolled in. It was his first career multigoal game.

McBain, Durzi and O’Brien also scored in the second, and Soberblom was replaced after O’Brien’s goal with 4:34 remaining in the period. He stopped 15 of 22 shots.

UP NEXT

Blackhawks: Host the Panthers on Saturday.

Coyotes: At Anaheim on Wednesday.

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