Ducks Earn Point Against Coyotes

By Michael Walters

The Anaheim Ducks visited Arizona for their final road game of the season against the Coyotes. Olle Eriksson Ek made his NHL debut. Ivan Prosvetov got the start in net for the Coyotes.

Scott Harrington was supposed to start, but couldn’t go so Mikita Nesterenko drew in. The Ducks went with a 13 forward 5 defensemen lineup.

Recap

Arizona opened the scoring just over halfway through the first period. Moser got the puck behind the net and found Christian Fischer in front for the goal.

The Ducks answered with a goal by Adam Henrique about two minutes later. Ryan Strome passed the puck to Henrique in the slot and he one timed beating Prosvetov on his glove side. The teams were tied at one at the end of the first period.

Coyotes took the lead on a power play early in the second period. Lawson Crouse redirected a slap shot from Boyd pst Eriksson Ek to make it a 2-1 lead.

Arizona another goal a few minutes later. Clayton Keller scored on a one timed from the right face off circle.

Ryan Strome scored a few minutes later to bring the Ducks within a goal. Max Jones was in the right face off circle and found Strome in front for the easy score.

Tempers flared shortly after Strome’s goal and he dropped the gloves with Connor Mackey. Arizona had 3-2 advantage at the end of the second period.

Henrique scored his second of the game on the power play to start the third to tie things up. Strome got the puck behind the net and found Henrique in front, who beat Prosvetov high for the goal.

The Ducks took their first lead of the game with just under two minutes to go. Jones carried the puck in between the face-off circles and beat Prosevtov high to make it a 4-3 game.

The Coyotes then pulled their goalie for the attacker and Matias Maccelli would score to tie the game with just 35 seconds left. The game needed bonus hockey to determine a winner.

In the overtime the teams went back and forth with no one scoring. It looked like the game might head to a shootout, but Barrett Hayton scored with one minute left to give the Coyotes the win.

Analysis:

This was an entertaining game that saw the Ducks rally twice, once down 1-0 and then again down 3-1. It looked like the Ducks would get the win, which would have been Eriksson Ek’s first in his NHL debut, but the Coyotes were able to tie things up late.

The Ducks were also forced to go with an unconventional 13-5 lineup because Harrington was a last minute scratch. Cam Fowler carried the load for the blueline logging a whooping 38 minutes and 55 seconds. Anaheim played well enough to win also going without Troy Terry again.

In terms of draft lottery position, the Ducks fell from 1st to 3rd. Columbus and Chicago both lost in regulation tonight.

Team Notes/Stats:

Henrique scored his 20th goal of the season.

Strome played in his 700th career NHL game. He earned a Gordie Howe hat trick with a goal, assist, and a fight.

The Ducks set the record for most shots against in season by a NHL Team.

Cam Fowler’s ice time(38:55) is the most by a defenseman in NHL history since ice time was tracked being in the 1997-98 season.

What’s Next?

The Ducks host the Colorado Avalanche tomorrow at 5:30 PM PT.

 

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April 8th, 2023