Ducks 4, Coyotes 1
Niklas Hagman scored twice to double his season total and Jonas Hiller turned aside 19 shots as the Anaheim Ducks skated to a 4-1 home triumph over the Pacific Division rival Phoenix Coyotes on Wednesday.
Rod Pelley scored in his first game with his new team and rookie Kyle Palmieri netted his first goal of the season for Anaheim, which posted just its fifth win in 25 games (5-15-5).
Last season's top-scoring defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky had an assist in his return from a broken finger. Visnovsky had been sidelined for 13 games.
Acquired from the New Jersey Devils on Monday, Pelley opened the scoring after wristing a shot past Mike Smith with 4:12 remaining in the first period. The tally was Pelley's first of the season.
Hagman doubled the advantage after a feverish flurry on the power play. Teemu Selanne and Corey Perry were both denied by Smith, but Hagman's wrister beat the netminder just 67 seconds into the second period.
After Martin Hanzal trimmed the deficit back to one nearly 6 1/2 minutes later, Hagman restored the advantage by backhanding a shot past Smith with 1:04 remaining in the period.
Smith finished with 24 saves to fall to 5-1-1 in his career versus Anaheim. The Coyotes suffered their third straight loss.