from Matt Layman of ArizonaSports,

All it took was one goal on Tuesday night.

Actually, it took more than that. It took Darcy Kuemper’s fourth shutout of the season and a late heroic goal by Nick Cousins, plus some solid defense, a successful penalty kill and a touch of good fortune, in order for the Coyotes to earn what was perhaps their most important win in years.

The Arizona Coyotes (37-33-7) bested the Chicago Blackhawks (33-33-10) on Tuesday night, 1-0, as Kuemper made 31 saves and the game’s lone goal wasn’t scored until 5:40 in the third period....

With the win, the Coyotes’ point total matches that of the Colorado Avalanche, who occupy the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. The tiebreakers aren’t too important yet, since the two teams will play each other in Arizona’s next game; the Coyotes travel to Denver to play the Avs on Friday.

“Friday night’s the most important [Coyotes] game in the last, what, how many years — right?” Tocchet said. “So this is something that we’re looking forward to. This is a big, big game for us on Friday.”

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