Coyotes rally to beat Ducks 5-4 in OT on Schmaltz's goal
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) The Arizona Coyotes are becoming adept at rallying from multi-goal deficits.
Nick Schmaltz's goal 33 seconds into overtime gave the Coyotes a 5-4 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night after they trailed 4-2 midway through the second period. It was the third time in Arizona's last eight wins that it was down two or more.
''It's a good character win,'' said Schmaltz, who added an assist and has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) since being acquired from Chicago on Nov. 25. ''We just chipped away and got a few big goals at the end of periods.''
Clayton Keller brought the puck into the zone on an odd-man rush and slid it to Schmaltz, who beat John Gibson on his stick side for the winner.
''Keller made a hell of a play to freeze the goalie. I just tried to put the puck on net and it went in,'' Schmaltz said.
Anaheim, which had a season-high 41 shots on goal, dropped its fifth straight despite two goals from Ondrej Kase and a career-best three assists from Nick Ritchie.
The Coyotes trailed 4-2 less than nine minutes into the second but tied it before the period was over. Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Christian Fischer, Nick Cousins and Jakob Chychrun also scored for Arizona, and Adin Hill stopped 37 shots.
Alex Galchenyuk and Keller each had two assists. Ekman-Larsson also had an assist for a multi-point game.
''It was a really crazy game. There was resiliency throughout the entire game which helped us be successful,'' Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said.
Daniel Sprong and Adam Henrique also scored for the Ducks, and Gibson made 25 saves.
''We were too loose defensively. We had three two-goal leads, and you should be able to finish it out,'' Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said.
Kase opened the scoring 46 seconds into the game when he flipped a backhand past Hill on a breakaway. It was the second-quickest goal for Anaheim to start a game this season.
The teams then traded power-play goals on one-timers.
Sprong gave the Ducks a two-goal advantage when he took a pass from Jakob Silfverberg less than 14 minutes in for his fourth of the season and the first power-play goal of his NHL career. Ekman-Larsson got Arizona on the board with 17 seconds remaining in the first on a two-man advantage when he scored from the faceoff circle off a feed from Galchenyuk for his fifth.
Henrique got his eighth when he converted a turnover deep in the Coyotes end for his eighth 12 seconds into the second. Arizona answered eight minutes later when Fischer took a wild carom off the boards that Gibson was unable to corral and fired it into the net while falling to the ice.
Kase got his second goal 12 minutes into the second when he was in front and redirected Ritchie's shot for his 11th. But the Coyotes rallied to tie it with a pair of goals 39 seconds apart when Cousins and Chychrun both beat Gibson up high.
NOTES: Arizona has taken two of three in the season series, with two meetings remaining in March. ... Conor Garland, who had an assist, and Galchenyuk each have a point in four straight games. Chychrun has at least one point in his last three. ... Henrique's goal was the quickest score at the start of any period by the Ducks this season. The previous fastest was when Rickard Rackell scored 14 seconds into overtime against Edmonton on Nov. 23. ... Sprong has four goals in 11 games for the Ducks since being acquired in a trade from Pittsburgh on Dec. 3. ... Kase has seven goals and three assists in his last nine games.
UP NEXT
Coyotes: Return home to face Vegas on Sunday.
Ducks: Continue their homestand Monday against Tampa Bay.
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