VIDEO: Coyotes Silence Ducks

Photo: AP

By Julius Choi

The Anaheim Ducks (28-35-9) ventured away from the Honda Center and played the Arizona Coyotes (36-30-5) on Thursday night in Gila River Arena. Despite winning their last game against the Nashville Predators, Anaheim lost nine of its last 11 games on the road. Meanwhile, the Coyotes are clinging on to the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. If Arizona maintains its current position, it will make the playoffs for the first time since the 2011-12 season. 

First Period

As the season is nearing the end, supporters of the Anaheim are clamoring for the season to be over. Eager over what new changes the offseason will bring in terms of new personnel. Which is what the Arizona Coyotes did when they decided to strike first and pull ahead on a shorthanded tally with 2:35 left in the first 20 minutes. Brad Richardson was granted easy access to Anaheim’s zone, dished the puck off to a trailing Oliver Ekman-Larsson who fired a shot from the left faceoff circle past goaltender Ryan Miller. This marked the ninth shorthanded goal allowed by the Ducks this season which is fourth most in the league. To add insult to injury, Jason Demers doubled the Coyotes lead about two minutes later.

Second Period 

Heading to the locker room after twenty minutes on fumes and returning on a fresh sheet of ice, Jakob Silfverberg took matters into his own hands just 58 seconds into the middle frame. Servicing as a screen for Devin Shore, Shore’s wrister from the slot ricocheted off Silfverberg’s body to slice Arizona’s lead in half. The tally extends Silfverberg’s point streak to 7 games and provides the 28-year-old with his team-leading 21st goal. Although the second period would duplicate the first period in terms of goals conceded, Anaheim still had a sliver of sunshine with 6:20 remaining as Ryan Miller saved the day. Miller made a miraculous stick save on Clayton Keller who Christian Dvorak found alone on the weak side with a saucer cross-ice pass while the Coyotes were on the power play. 

Third Period 

Although the Ducks outshot Arizona 15-6 in the 3rd period, the Coyotes stood their ground and did not relinquish its three-goal lead. Arizona would add insurance tallies late to secure the vital two points that now provides a three-point cushion from Minnesota, a team that is on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. The third-year pro and Coyotes center Vinnie Hinostroza completed the first hat trick of his career to further dampen Anaheim’s mood. This now marks the ninth time this season where the desert dogs have scored five goals or more in a game during the 2018-19 campaign.

Game Analysis 

With the 6-1 win, Arizona is now 26-1-1 when leading after the first 40 minutes of play. Much like we’ve seen all season long, Anaheim’s defense tonight gave too much room for Arizona to operate and generate quality scoring chances. There were not many sticks that got in the way of any passing lanes and it almost felt like the Coyotes were playing a game of NHL 2K where the Ducks would act like the team that was the CPU. Despite the Ducks holding a 37-24 shot margin, Anaheim failed to register a shot on goal while on four power plays tonight. It also didn’t do Anaheim any favors when Darcy Kuemper couldn’t be solved. Kuemper allowed just one goal on 37 shots faced and picked up his 23rd victory of the season.

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March 15th, 2019