Ducks blow 3-0 lead again and lose to Coyotes

Conor Garland and Christian Dvorak each scored in a shootout, and the Arizona Coyotes rallied from a three-goal deficit for the second straight game to beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 Wednesday night.

The Coyotes became the eighth team in NHL history to win consecutive games after trailing by at least three goals. Quebec was the only other team to do it facing the same team, against Hartford in 1983.

“It’s one of those things where you never stop believing, but we can’t have a steady dose of this,” Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said.

Arizona came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat Anaheim 4-3 in a testy, fight-filled game Monday night.

The Ducks had a three-goal lead in the second period of the rematch on goals by Max Comtois, Max Jones and Josh Mahura.

The Coyotes again revved it up late, pulling within 3-2 on goals by Tyler Pitlick and Jakob Chychrun less than two minutes apart in the third period. Phil Kessel tied it with 3:21 left in regulation

“We got some good breaks, a couple of good bounces,” Kessel said. “We never thought were were out of it. You get one and momentum seems to be on your side.

Both teams had good chances in the overtime, Anaheim’s Ryan Miller and Arizona’s Adin Hill traded spectacular saves seconds apart.

Hill, who replaced injured Darcy Kuemper early in the third period, stopped Comtois in the shootout and Rickard Rakell missed the net on Anaheim’s final shot.

“We were playing a game and we just started accepting the game, just watching,” Jones said. “We can’t do that. We can’t accept that.”

The Coyotes played their worst opening period of the season in Monday’s win, giving up two goals and another early in the second.

They had a much better start in the rematch, particularly in their own end.

The Ducks still got the first goal, scoring with 12 seconds left in the first period when Comtois poked in a rebound between his legs.

Anaheim dominated early in the second period and Mahura made it 2-0 on a shot from near the blue line as Trevor Zegras flashed in front of Kuemper.

Jones gave the Ducks another 3-0 lead, slipping a backhander under Kuemper on a power play late in the second period.

The Coyotes came to life in the third period after Tocchet pulled Kuemper, scoring when Pitlick deflected a shot by Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Chychrun scored 1:44 later on a shot that hit a skate and a stick out front. Kessel tied it on a slick pass from Clayton Keller.

“We backed off a little bit, but that’s how you learn these lessons,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said. “You have to keep your foot on the gas, keep playing hard.”