Ducks still look perfect in 5-2 victory over Coyotes

All those missed passes from the Ducks’ dark days earlier this season are gone. The poor chemistry from October seems like seasons ago.

They have been clicking for weeks, and that cohesiveness was on display again Friday.

Third-period goals by Corey Perry and Andrew Cogliano propelled the Ducks to a 5-2 win at Honda Center that moved them one point behind San Jose for second place in the Pacific Division.

The Ducks head into a seven-game trip with a division sweep against San Jose, the Kings and Arizona in a four-day span. They extended their winning streak to six, are 13-3-1 since Christmas and have scored 34 goals in nine games.

“That was probably the biggest stretch of the season in terms of getting ourselves in a good position now,” Cogliano said. “Now we have a tough seven games, but that’s hard work. We played three really good teams, and I thought we played pretty good it just seems like a lot parts of our game are coming together.”

Defenseman Hampus Lindholm scored for the third straight game, as did a fourth-line player, Mike Santorelli.

But the Ducks’ newfound synchronicity allowed them to win this one.

Perry’s go-ahead goal was another pretty passing sequence by his line as Perry buried a feed from Rickard Rakell early in the third period. Perry’s 21st goal came at a price as he skated off gingerly after he fell on the play, but didn’t miss a shift.

Cogliano’s was equally worthy, a tap-in of Kevin Bieksa’s pass less than two minutes later for a 4-2 lead. Patrick Maroon finished his first three-point game with the Ducks’ last goal, after his earlier score was disallowed on goalie interference.

The difference in playmaking is night and day for Anaheim.

“I think guys are jelling,” Maroon said. “In the beginning of the season, we had no confidence. When you start [1-7-2], guys are not going to jell. Guys are down in the dumps. Guys aren’t scoring. Guys aren’t producing. I think everyone’s chipping in now, and everyone’s feeling a little confidence. Confidence goes a long way in this game.”

Lindholm, who had three goals in his first 46 games, beat Arizona goalie Anders Lindback with a snap shot from the right circle in the second period to tie it, 1-1.

With several past and present Angels players in attendance on “Angels Night,” including Rod Carew, Lindback whiffed on a clearing attempt from behind his net. Santorelli grabbed the puck and backhanded it in for a 2-1 lead.

The first half of the game was largely edgy and penalty-filled, and Anaheim’s NHL-best penalty-killing unit finally wore down. It allowed a power-play goal for the second straight game after it had killed 49 of 51 penalties in a 14-game stretch.

Shane Doan cashed in on Arizona’s fourth power play to make it 2-2. The goal tied Doan with Dale Hawerchuk for the most power-play goals in Coyotes franchise history with 122.

Lindback set the chippy tone early with a jab to Ryan Getzlaf, who went after a puck that the Arizona goalie had secured.

The Ducks got 14 shots in the first period but a sloppy opening put them in a 1-0 deficit 94 seconds into the game. The puck ticked off Perry’s stick in the Ducks’ zone and gave Arizona a two-on-none that Tobias Rieder easily converted from Doan, who finished one point shy of tying Hawerchuk’s franchise points record.