Ducks can’t keep pace with Coyotes in penalty-filled loss
Clayton Keller and Jason Zucker scored goals, Karel Vejmelka made 32 saves, and the Arizona Coyotes beat the Ducks 2-1 in their home opener Saturday.
The Coyotes (3-2) have won three of their first five games for the first time since the 2015-16 season when they won their first three, and they won their home opener for the first time since 2016-17.
“So far, so good,” said Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny, home after a four-game trip that included victories over New Jersey and St. Louis and one-goal losses to the Rangers and Islanders. “We had really good opponents in that stretch. The New York teams are elite teams. I’ll take it.”
As the Ducks embark on their 30th NHL season, the team has reason to be optimistic about its future, thanks to its core of young talent.
Frank Vatrano tipped in a cross-ice pass from Jakob Silfverberg for his fourth goal of the season on a power play to cut the Coyotes’ lead to 2-1 at 7:47 of the third period.
The Ducks pulled goaltender Lukas Dostal with two minutes remaining but could not score again in a contentious game that included 14 penalties, eight by the Ducks.
“We want to be competitive,” Vatrano said. ”We want to be hard to play against. Sometimes the calls don’t go your way. We’re not going to change the way we play. We just have to do it a little smarter.”
Coyotes forward Liam O’Brien and Ducks forward Ross Johnston were given five-minute fighting penalties for a scrap that knocked the goal off its moorings midway through the second period.
“We knew what Anaheim would bring,” Tourigny said. “They were really aggressive on the forecheck. It’s really draining physically. There are a lot of emotions in that game. You can lose your focus. I really loved the way our guys reacted. They pushed through and found a way to win.”
Zucker scored on a quick wrist shot from the top of the right circle that squeaked under Dostal’s glove for a 1-0 lead with 2:19 remaining in the first period, nine seconds into a power play.
Dostal saved two shots from Nick Schmaltz from point-blank range minutes earlier on the first of the Coyotes’ two power plays.
Keller gave the Coyotes a 2-0 lead with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle at 14:01 of the second period. The Coyotes spent almost a minute working the puck around in their zone before Keller’s score, after a delayed penalty call enabled them to pull Vejmelka for an extra skater.
Leo Carlsson scored a goal in the third period while making an impressive NHL debut in the Ducks’ 3-2 loss to the Dallas Stars on Thursday.
“We had a really good possession, and that opened up play for us,” Tourigny said.
The Ducks put their most consistent pressure on Vejmelka during a power play early in the second period. Vejmelka turned aside three shots, two by Trevor Zegras, and the defense blocked three others in the first 80 seconds.
“He played a great game,” Vatrano said of Vejmelka.
Injury updates: Ducks forwards Brock McGinn (lower body) and Alex Kilorn (broken finger) and defenseman Jamie Drysdale (lower body) were held out. Kilorn has 198 career goals. Forward Adam Henrique returned after missing the last game with an illness.
Up next for the Ducks: vs. Boston on Sunday.
