Coyotes jump out to fast start in win over Ducks
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- A reporter asked Arizona coach Dave Tippett recently if he was concerned about his young team's ability to focus with the NHL trade deadline approaching and several Coyotes being mentioned in trade rumors.
"I won't be able to answer that question until we're in the middle of it," Tippett said.
For one night, the Coyotes showed no ill effects. A few hours after Arizona traded defenseman Michael Stone to Calgary, the Coyotes jumped all over the Anaheim Ducks, scoring three-first period goals and hanging on for a 3-2 win on Monday at Gila River Arena.
Rookies Christian Dvorak, Jakob Chychrun and right winger Radim Vrbata scored for the Coyotes, who improved to 8-4-1 in their last 13 games.
Coyotes goalie Mike Smith made 27 saves but left the game with 15:31 left in the third period after he appeared to take a shot to the head from Anaheim's Jakob Silfverberg that knocked Smith's mask off about a minute and a half earlier. There was no immediate word on Smith's condition. Rookie Marek Langhamer (six saves) replaced Smith, marking his first NHL action. Langhamer stopped defenseman Sami Vatanen on a rebound chance as the clock expired.
Ryan Getzlaf had a pair of goals for Anaheim, including one on a slapshot through traffic with 26.8 seconds left with the goalie pulled. John Gibson made 14 saves in relief of Jonathan Bernier for the Ducks.
Arizona grabbed an early lead when Dvorak took a pass from captain Shane Doan, deked to his backhand and slid the puck past Bernier at 2:02 of the first period for his 10th goal of the season. With the assist, Doan recorded his 18th straight season of at least 20 points.
Chychrun widened the lead to 2-0 at 4:46 of the first period when he pinched in from the point on the weak side and one-timed a cross-ice feed from Ryan White past Bernier. It was Chychrun's fourth goal of the season.
Vrbata scored his 12th goal of the season to make it 3-0 at 14:40 of the first period. Vrbata's shot appeared to deflect in off Vatanen's skate. Vrbata extended his point streak to six games (1-5-6) with the goal, which is the longest active point streak in the NHL.
Bernier, who was making his first start in three weeks, was pulled after the first period after allowing three goals on six shots.
Anaheim got one back at 12:26 of the second period when defenseman Josh Manson's slap shot from the point deflected off Getzlaf and past Smith to cut the lead to 3-1.
NOTES: The Coyotes traded D Michael Stone to Calgary for a third-round draft choice in 2017 and a conditional fifth-round pick in 2018. The fifth-round pick is conditional upon the Flames re-signing Stone. Arizona will retain half of Stone's pro-rated salary ($544,444). "It's a player I know well here and he fit with us," said Flames GM Brad Treliving, who was previously Arizona's assistant GM. "In a perfect world, we thought we'd like to add somebody on the right side to give us some depth. At the end of the day, we felt the price was manageable." ... Coyotes G Louis Domingue (lower body) and LW Lawson Crouse (lower body) are day to day. C Brad Richardson (broken right tibia and fibula) is on injured reserve but has resumed skating. ... Ducks G Jonathan Bernier made his first start in three weeks. ... Ducks D Clayton Stoner (abdomen) and D Simon Despres (concussion symptoms) are on injured reserve and out indefinitely. C Antoine Vermette served the third game of his 10-game suspension for abuse of an official on Tuesday.