TEMPE, Ariz. — The Arizona Coyotes season-best winning streak has been led by fantastic goaltending from Connor Ingram.
After beating the five most recent Stanley Cups, that play is getting recognized by the NHL as Ingram was named the league's First Star of the Week on Monday.
The Coyotes' winning streak stood at four when the award was announced as they beat the Vegas Golden Knights (the reigning Stanley Cup champions), the Colorado Avalanche (who won the Cup in 2022), the Tampa Bay Lightning (who won the Cup in 2020 and 2021) and the St. Louis Blues (who won the Cup in 2019).
The Coyotes extended that win streak to five on Monday night, when they beat the 2018 Stanley Cup champs, the Washington Capitals, 6-0. The Coyotes are the first team in NHL history to beat the five most recent Stanley Cup champions in consecutive games.
In the three wins last week (Tampa Bay, Colorado and St. Louis), Ingram made saves on 89 of the 94 shots he faced (a .947 save percentage) and had a 1.63 goals against average (GAA). That helped the Coyotes move into the first Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.
In the 3-1 win over Tampa Bay, Ingram had 30 saves. Two nights later against the Avs, Ingram stopped 28 shots in Arizona's overtime victory. Then on Saturday night against St. Louis, Ingram stopped 31 shots, which was his sixth 30-save game of the year.
Ingram is the first Coyotes goalie to be named the NHL's First Star of the Week since Mike Smith in 2012.
Ingram, who has started every game of the Coyotes' win streak, is currently among the NHL leaders in wins (tied for 3rd with 11), GAA (7th, 2.23), and save percentage (tied for 6th at .930).
The NHL's second star of the week was center Mathew Barzal from the New York Islanders. The third star was center Jack Hughes from the New Jersey Devils.
Arizona sports
The city of Phoenix is home to five major professional sports league teams; The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, MLB's Arizona Diamondbacks and NHL's Arizona Coyotes.
The Cardinals have made the State Farm Stadium in Glendale their home turf and the Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix is home to both the Suns and the Mercury. The Indoor Football League’s Arizona Rattlers also play at the Footprint. Phoenix has a soccer team with the USL's Phoenix Rising FC.
The Valley hosts multiple major sporting events on a yearly basis, including college football's Fiesta Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl; the PGA Tour’s highest-attended event, the Waste Management Phoenix Open; NASCAR events each spring and fall; and Cactus League Spring Training.
12Sports on YouTube
Watch more of the latest sports videos on the 12News YouTube channel. Don’t forget to subscribe!