Ducks lose in shootout to Coyotes, 3-2

Radim Vrbata helped the Phoenix Coyotes cap a successful October with another late win.

Vrbata scored in the shootout to give the Coyotes a 3-2 win against the Ducks on Saturday night.

Phoenix goalie Ilya Bryzgalov stopped Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Teemu Selanne in the tiebreaker to preserve the victory.

The Coyotes improved to 4-0 when the game is tied after regulation, including two shootout wins. They also earned their ninth win in October, tying a franchise record.

“It was one of those games where you think you should be winning, but [the Ducks] kept hanging on, and hanging on,” said Vernon Fiddler, who had a tying goal in the third period for Phoenix. “We knew they played [Friday night], so we wanted to keep going on them and wear them down.”

After dropping four straight, the Ducks have earned points in their last two games and came away satisfied with their effort in the desert.

“Right now, we’re taking one shift at a time and small steps,” center Todd Marchant said. “We just need to keep moving forward. I thought we played a solid road game, and can take positives from the effort.”

Selanne gave the Ducks the lead midway through the third period when his shot from the right face-off circle deflected off Bryzgalov’s right pad and into the net.

Phoenix tied it 18 seconds later when Fiddler, untouched and to the left of goalie Jonas Hiller, converted a pass from Sami Lepisto at 10:31 for his second goal of the season.

The Coyotes went ahead 1-0 in the first. Robert Lang converted Matthew Lombardi’s pass for his third goal of the season and second on the power play.

Anaheim used a two-man advantage to tie it in the second. Perry scored from in close for his eighth of the season and second on the power play at 8:01.

The Ducks almost grabbed the lead late in the second, but Bryzgalov stopped Getzlaf in close with 17 seconds left.

“We had a strong second period and overall sound effort,” said Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle.