Ducks Find Themselves Stuck in Coyote Hole

Down by two goals after only two shifts Friday at the Arrowhead Pond, the Mighty Ducks still seemed full of hope. After all, the Phoenix Coyotes aren’t called the Choking Dogs by some around the NHL for no good reason.

There certainly was plenty of time for the Ducks to regain their smarts and rediscover their legs after an absent-minded and flat-footed start.

Try as they might, however, the Coyotes couldn’t give away a game to the Ducks, hanging on for a 4-3 victory. Duck center Matt Cullen had a chance at a tying goal in the final seconds, but couldn’t tap a centering pass from his skate to his stick and into an open net after Robert Esche was hopelessly out of position.

Phoenix began the season with a 9-1-2 mark, but is only 12-12-9-1 since Nov. 1. The Coyotes had every opportunity to turn Friday’s game into a rout, but couldn’t quite manage it and were left scrambling as the final seconds ticked past.

Entering the third period down, 4-2, and missing injured forwards Paul Kariya, Mike Leclerc and Steve Rucchin, the Ducks generated only token pressure on Esche.

But with Phoenix defenseman Keith Carney in the penalty box for slashing, the Ducks narrowed the gap to 4-3 on Teemu Selanne’s power-play goal at 9:41.

It was Selanne’s sixth goal in six games and his team-leading 17th. Suddenly, the announced crowd of 14,280 was roaring its approval after showering the Ducks with boos in the opening minutes.

The Ducks appeared to be dazed and confused at the outset, giving up two goals in a club-record 1:11. And the emphasis is on the word giving.

On the first shift, defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski lost control of the puck as the Ducks were skating out of the defensive zone. Jeremy Roenick fed the puck ahead to Keith Tkachuk, who was slowly making his way toward neutral ice.

Suddenly, Tkachuk was in prime scoring territory. Jean-Sebastien Giguere denied Tkachuk at the left post, but Tkachuk controlled the rebound and fed a centering pass to Shane Doan. Alone in the slot, Doan put the puck by Giguere at the 41-second mark.

Next, Giguere and defenseman Pavel Trnka misplayed a puck behind the Duck net. Phoenix’s Mika Alatalo gained control and fed a pass out front to Juha Ylonen, who tapped the puck behind a scrambling Giguere at the 1:11 mark.

It was the fastest the Ducks had given up two goals to start a game in their eight-season history. Two shifts into the game and the Ducks were all but history.

Selanne, the Ducks’ leading scorer, had played only a single shift and the Ducks already trailed, 2-0.

In time, the Ducks would get their act together, cutting the deficit to 2-1 on Marty McInnis’ power-play goal with 3:39 left in the opening period. But disaster struck in the dying seconds of the period.

Claude Lemieux’s simple dump-in turned into a fluke goal for Daniel Briere and a 3-1 Coyote lead.

Blame for this one goes to the arena’s boards, which only occasionally give players a true bounce. It happened again Friday, when Lemieux’s pass kicked off the end boards at an angle that fooled Giguere, ending up on Briere’s stick. With Giguere out of position, Briere popped the loose puck into an empty net with 27 seconds left.

Each team scored once in the middle period, Roenick converting on a breakaway after yet another coverage meltdown at 7:42 and defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky countering for the Ducks with a wraparound at 15:23.

In other words, the Ducks were back where they started, down by two goals.

By no means was the deficit the fault of only Giguere, who earned a second consecutive start after making 35 saves in a 5-2 victory Wednesday against the Atlanta Thrashers.

Coach Guy Charron originally planned to play Guy Hebert against the Coyotes, but decided to reward Giguere for his fine work against Atlanta. It was the first time Hebert hadn’t played in consecutive games when healthy this season.

Unlike their victory over the Thrashers, the Ducks didn’t give Giguere enough support. Their flat-footed effort on the game’s opening two shifts cost them and their 23-year-old goaltender.