Gendale, Arizona: Radim Vrbata capped Arizona’s three-goal first period and the Coyotes held on for 3-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Monday night.
Christian Dvorak and Jakob Chychrun also scored for Arizona, and starting goalie Mike Smith had 27 saves before leaving about 4 1/2 minutes into the third period after a collision in the net. Marek Langhamer helped kill a power play after being pressed into action for his NHL debut and stopped seven of the eight shots he faced.
The Coyotes have won four of their last six. Langhamer gave up Ryan Getzlaf’s second goal of the night and 11th of the season with 26.8 seconds to play, but thwarted two quality shots in the final seconds.
Jonathan Bernier gave up three goals on six shots in the first period for the Ducks, who have lost six of nine. Starting goalie John Gibson, who played in the 1-0 win over Los Angeles on Sunday night, came on to start the second and stopped all 14 shots he faced.
Dvorak’s backhand off a pass from Shane Doan gave the Coyotes the lead 2:02 into the game. It was Dvorak’s sixth goal in the past nine games.
Ryan White delivered a pinpoint cross to Chychrun in the middle, and the young third-line defenceman beat Bernier at 4:46.
Vrbata’s 12th came courtesy of Ducks defenceman Sami Vatanen’s skate. His shot caromed off Vatanen and into the goal, though officials originally ruled it a non-goal with Arizona’s Martin Hanzal also in the vicinity of the net.
The play was reviewed and overturned, and the Coyotes led 3-0 with 5:10 remaining in the opening period.
Anaheim captain Getzlaf scored with 7:34 left in the second period as he deflected Josh Manson’s shot past Smith.
The Coyotes took the two-goal lead into the third period, and improved to 14-0-3 when leading after 40 minutes this season.
The Coyotes played their first game without defenceman Michael Stone, who was traded earlier Monday to Calgary. Stone debuted with the Coyotes in 2011 and had been with the team ever since. He was replaced on the second defensive line by Connor Murphy.
Doan tied Brendan Shanahan for 15th place on the list of most games played in NHL history at 1,524 games.
