Anaheim 5, Arizona 2
When: 10:00 PM ET, Friday, February 5, 2016
Where: Honda Center, Anaheim, California
Referees:
Gord Dwyer, Dean Morton
Linesmen:
Ryan Galloway, Ryan Gibbons
Attendance:
17342
By The Sports Xchange
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- In the midst of their longest winning streak of the season, the Anaheim Ducks finally defeated one of their major divisional rivals.
Goalie Frederik Andersen earned his fifth successive victory and stopped 23 shots as the Ducks routed the Arizona Coyotes 5-2 Friday night at the Honda Center.
Right wingers Corey Perry and Mike Santorelli, left wingers Andrew Cogliano and Patrick Maroon and defenseman Hampus Lindholm scored for the Ducks, who lost the previous three meetings with the Coyotes while being outscored 12-5.
"Obviously, they took it to us three games in a row," Maroon said. "This is a huge game to let them know we're going to be there the rest of the year. We've got to make them feel they can't beat us."
Anaheim (25-18-7) extended its season-high winning streak to six games and moved three points ahead of the fourth-place Coyotes (24-22-6) in the race for third place, the Pacific Division's final automatic playoff spot.
"This is by far the funnest time of the year," Maroon said. "This is where the best teams come out, the best players come out."
The Ducks have compiled a 12-3-1 record since Dec. 26 and have scored 35 goals in their past nine games.
"Bruce has found a good mix of in terms of finding guys to create depth," Cogliano said of Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau. "I think our team is really hard to defend right now. Guys are just feeling much better with the puck. Our defense gets the puck out of our end really fast, and it seems like it's creating offense for us."
Right winger Shane Doan scored his team-leading 19th goal and added an assist for Arizona. Left winger Tobias Rieder contributed a goal, while goalie Anders Lindback made 36 saves, two fewer than his season high. Nevertheless, the Coyotes absorbed their fourth loss in a row and their seventh in nine games.
"We've been told that we've done OK, but we've got lots to improve," Doan said. "These next 20 games are huge for us. As a young group, we're going to have to make sure we stay alert. You can't try to pick it up in the last 10 games and think you're going to make up ground."
Perry's 21st goal of the season broke a 2-2 tie at 2:07 of the third period. After center Rickard Rakell received a pass at the right post, Lindback fell in anticipation of a shot. Instead, Rakell passed to an onrushing Perry, who converted a wrist shot from the slot over the prone Lindback.
Then at 3:48, Anaheim exploited another overreaction from Lindback to build a two-goal lead. With defenseman Kevin Bieksa holding the puck at the right circle, Lindback charged forward. Bieksa then passed to Cogliano, who deposited the puck inside the left post for his fifth goal.
Maroon, who had a goal disallowed by video replay about nine minutes into the final period, ended the scoring with a power-play goal at 16:25.
Rieder needed only 1 minute, 34 seconds after the opening faceoff to convert Perry's turnover into a 1-0 lead. After Maroon dug out the puck from the boards behind the right circle, Rakell sent a pass that hit Perry's left skate. Perry responded by blindly poking the puck forward.
Doan secured the loose puck near the right post and passed to Rieder, who converted a wrist shot inside the left post for his 11th goal.
Anaheim right winger Chris Stewart had a chance to tie the score roughly seven minutes into the first period, but his shot from the left circle on a two-on-one rush hit the inside of the left post and ricocheted through the crease.
The Ducks scored twice within 66 seconds during the second period to move ahead 2-1. Lindholm registered his third goal in three games and his sixth of the season with a wrist shot from the right point four minutes into the period.
The hosts then used a turnover to take the lead at 5:06. When Lindback fanned on a pass from the trapezoid behind the net, right winger Mike Santorelli swooped in to steal the puck. With Lindback out of position, Santorelli backhanded it inside the right post for his sixth goal.
Doan tied the score nearly 10 minutes later on a power play with his team-leading 19th goal. The Coyotes' captain received center Antoine Vermette's pass from the right circle and swept the puck under Andersen's right pad at 14:55.
With the goal, Doan moved within one point of the club's all-time record, held by Hall of Famer Dale Hawerchuk, and he equaled Hawerchuk's team record for career power-play goals, 122.
"It was big for us to tie it up on the power play," Doan said. "At the same time, we really didn't sustain any pressure. We didn't get the puck in the zone as easily as we normally do."
NOTES: Arizona scratched D Klas Dahlbeck, C Boyd Gordon and D Nicklas Grossmann. ... Coyotes RW Viktor Tikhonov is the grandson and namesake of the fabled coach who guided the former Soviet Union to three Olympic gold medals and nine world championships. ... Coyotes RW Shane Doan passed Hall of Famer John Bucyk and moved into seventh place in games played with one team. Doan made his 1,437th appearance for the franchise. Bucyk played 21 of his 23 seasons with the Boston Bruins. ... Coyotes LW Kyle Chipchura played his 300th game with the team. ... Anaheim scratched D Korbinian Holzer and C Harry Zolnierczyk. ... Anaheim is challenging the 2011-12 New Jersey Devils for the best penalty-killing rate for one season (89.6 percent). The Ducks defused a league-best 89.4 percent of opponents' power plays entering Friday, when they killed four of five.
Top Game Performances
Arizona |
|
Anaheim |
Shane Doan 2 |
Points |
Patrick Maroon 3 |
Shane Doan 1 |
Goals |
Patrick Maroon 1 |
Shane Doan 1 |
Assists |
Patrick Maroon 2 |
Shane Doan 1 |
Power Play Goals |
Patrick Maroon 1 |
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
Anders Lindback .878 |
Save Percentage |
Frederik Andersen .920 |
Anders Lindback 36 |
Saves |
Frederik Andersen 23 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
Arizona
|
25 |
2 |
1-5 |
6-7 |
14 |
32 |
Anaheim
|
41 |
5 |
1-7 |
4-5 |
10 |
34 |
Upcoming Games
-
Anaheim will play their next game on the road against Pittsburgh. The Ducks have a W/L % of .480 after a win and .520 after a loss.
-
Arizona will play their next game at home against Vancouver. The Coyotes have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .429 after a loss.