Tucson Arena crowd howlin' all afternoon as NHL's Arizona Coyotes rout Anaheim Ducks 7-1

More than 5,000 were howlin’ for NHL hockey Saturday in Southern Arizona, and not just because the Tucson Arena speaker system told them to do so over and over (and over) again.

The National Hockey League’s Arizona Coyotes wrapped up their 2023 preseason schedule with a demonstrative 7-1 blowout of the Anaheim Ducks in front of an announced Tucson Arena crowd of 5,180. The Tempe-based Coyotes held a preseason game in Tucson for the second consecutive season, this go-round before opening regular-season play Friday at New Jersey.

Every time the de facto “home” team — the Coyotes, of course, borrowing the home rink of their AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners, for the afternoon — scored a goal, the arena loudspeakers roared a rendition of “Howlin’ for you” by rock band The Black Keys. It’s the same tune played when the Coyotes score a goal at Mullett Arena, their home rink up in Tempe.

And it blasted all seven times Saturday, with Coyotes goals coming off the sticks of Nick Bjugstad, former Roadrunner Lawson Crouse, Jack McBain, Liam O’Brien, Matt Dumba and Sean Durzi each notching one goal. Rookie Logan Cooley scored, too, potting a second-period penalty shot to grow an already wide Arizona lead even further.

While the game featured likely NHLers for both teams, the Coyotes’ lineup certainly carried a bit of a Tucson flare.

Forward Michael Carcone, the American Hockey League’s leading scorer last year and owner of a multitude of Roadrunners’ scoring records set during his three-year tenure in Tucson, had a pair of assists Saturday in his former home building.

“That was a special one,” Carcone said postgame. “Everyone, including the guys in that room made it special for me. You know, they’re giving it to me before the game, but just in good fun. It was definitely special. It was nice to be back.”

Other current or former Roadrunners rostered for Arizona include goaltender Ivan Prosvetov, who didn’t play but served as backup to starter Karel Vejmelka (Vejmelka stopped 29 of 30 Anaheim shots against only losing the shutout when the Ducks scored midway through the third period).

Forward Matias Maccelli, the wunderkind Finnish forward who wowed Tucson fans in 2021-22 before quickly earning a permanent spot with the Coyotes, was also dressed in Arizona’s black Kachina home jersey. He picked up an assist.

Former Roadrunners forward Barrett Hayton and defenseman JJ Moser were also in the lineup, while Victor Soderstrom, a stalwart on Tucson’s blueline in recent seasons, played Saturday as well. One way or the other, Soderstrom will likely be one of the last decisions Coyotes management has to make a call on in terms of whether to keep him in Tempe or have the defenseman start the year in Tucson again.

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“I said to the group in our first meeting: their job was to earn not just a spot on the team (but) a role on the team,” Coyotes coach André Tourigny said postgame, “and to make it extremely tough on us, and they did.

“The good thing,” he added, “is we can not go wrong. Whatever direction we are going these guys are really good players and they will help us moving forward. There’s nobody in the camp where I say, ‘meh, he didn’t have the camp I was hoping for.’ So we’re really happy about that. Tough decisions are a good problem.”

On playing a game in Tucson for the second straight year, Tourigny was impressed with the crowd and its obvious connection to the “home” Coyotes in particular.

“It’s cool to see. You play a game not in your own building but you see a lot of jerseys, people who know your players — especially the players who played here in the past,” Tourigny said. “It’s a familiar environment. You can see the feeling of belonging around the community here for the ’Yotes, so that’s fun.”

As for the Roadrunners, the regular season is what’s next, too. Tucson is two weeks away from opening up the home portion of its 2023-24 AHL schedule at Tucson Arena; that will be Saturday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m.

Before that, the Roadrunners open up on the road this coming Friday in Cedar Park, Texas, just outside Austin, when they take on the Texas Stars at 5 p.m.

Photos: Coyotes dismantle the Ducks 7-1 at Tucson Arena, NHL preseason