GAME REPORT

COYOTES 5, DUCKS 2

FIRST PERIOD

* IN REVIEW: The chess match on ice continued, as the Ducks opened with their top line of Paul Kariya, Steve Rucchin and Teemu Selanne and the Coyotes countered with Keith Tkachuk, Bob Corkum and Jeremy Roenick. And the Coyotes continued to put defenseman Teppo Numminen up against Selanne, who managed to finally elude him with a goal at 17:37 that tied it at 1-1. Selanne’s goal ended a scoring drought of 118 minutes 48 seconds for the Ducks. The Coyotes had taken a 1-0 lead on a brilliant counterattack, started by right wing Dallas Drake deep in his own zone.

Saves: Anaheim--Guy Hebert 4, Phoenix--Nikolai Khabibulin, 9.

* SCORING: Phoenix 1, Ducks 0: Tkachuk scored his fourth of the playoffs on a breakaway from the Ducks’ blue line, beating a sprawling Hebert with a shot up high in the corner at 14:46.

Ducks 1, Phoenix 1: With 2:23 left, Selanne scored his fourth goal of the playoffs, a rebound from the left crease off defenseman Dan Trebil’s shot from the high slot.

* KEY PLAY: With 7:30 remaining, Hebert made a glove save on right wing Shane Doan’s hard slap shot from the left circle.

SECOND PERIOD

* IN REVIEW: A decidedly lackluster period brought forth the the first boos not directed at former Duck Oleg Tverdovsky. It was the worst period for the Ducks since the first period of Game 3 at Phoenix, and those largely responsible were two of the Coyotes’ top threats--Roenick and Numminen. Numminen, who scored just twice in 82 regular-season games, has scored three times in this series. The Ducks have been shut out in six of the last eight periods against the Coyotes.

Saves: Hebert, 7, Khabibulin, 11

* SCORING: Phoenix 2, Ducks 1: Roenick scored his second goal of the playoffs from the right crease at 7:17 after Darrin Shannon took a stab at it, taking advantage of poor Duck coverage down low.

Phoenix 3, Ducks 1: Numminen scored when all alone in front, at 9:12, beating Hebert up high on the glove side.

* KEY PLAY: The Coyotes could have taken a three-goal lead, but defenseman Jason Marshall broke up a two-on-one down low at 16:43, cutting off Tverdovsky’s pass.

THIRD PERIOD

* IN REVIEW: Who would have thought the Ducks’ trade of Corkum would come back to haunt them? Corkum, who the Ducks traded to Philadelphia last season and then was picked up by the Coyotes on waivers in September, had three points in the game. He scored an insurance goal with 5:50 remaining.

Saves: Hebert, 8; Khabibulin, 10.

* SCORING: Phoenix 3, Ducks 2: Selanne scored his second of the night and fifth of the playoffs, at 6:52, as the power-play goal came after Craig Janney took a penalty for interfering with Selanne. Selanne’s goal, from the left crease, was a rebound off defenseman J.J. Daigneault’s shot from above the right circle, which deflected off Coyote defenseman Jim Johnson.

Phoenix 4, Ducks 2: Corkum scored his second goal of the playoffs at 14:10 with a backhander from the base of the left circle, beating Hebert on the glove side. Setting up the goal was Roenick, who took advantage of Duck defenseman Dan Trebil’s errant pass out of the left corner off the boards to Roenick’s stick.

Phoenix 5, Ducks 2: Tkachuk scored his second of the game and fifth of the playoffs, at 19:39 on an empty-netter after the Ducks pulled Hebert for an extra attacker.

* KEY PLAY: Trebil’s giveaway which sealed the Ducks’ fate and send the Coyotes back to Phoenix with all the momentum for Sunday’s Game 6.