Saturday, December 29, 2018 10:00 PM (ET)

Coyotes strike quickly in OT to top Ducks

Field Level Media
Dec 30, 2018

Nick Schmaltz scored 33 seconds into overtime to give the visiting Arizona Coyotes a 5-4 victory, while sending the Anaheim Ducks to their fifth consecutive defeat.

After never holding the lead in regulation, the Coyotes won for the third time in their last four games after a three-game losing streak. The Coyotes broke free for a two-on-one early in overtime with Clayton Keller feeding Schmaltz for the one-timer past Ducks goalie John Gibson.

Ondrej Kase scored a goal in each of the first two periods but the Ducks lost despite taking a season-high 41 shots on goal. The Ducks managed just one other goal after Adam Henrique scored 12 seconds into the second period.

Two of the lowest-scoring teams in the NHL combined for a five-goal second period. The Coyotes and Ducks are just two of the four teams who have not yet reached 100 goals this season.

Kase scored his 10th goal of the season 46 seconds into the first period and Henrique struck quickly in the second period.

The Ducks entered having scored four total goals over their previous four games.

Christian Fischer, Nick Cousins and Jakob Chychrun each scored second-period goals for the Coyotes, who entered having lost eight of their last 11 games going back to Dec. 6.

After Kase's quick goal gave the Ducks the early lead, Daniel Sprong gave Anaheim a 2-0 lead when he converted on a blistering shot from out front on a pass from Jakob Silfverberg. The Coyotes pulled to within a goal when Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored just as an Arizona two-man advantage was expiring.

After Henrique built the Ducks lead to 3-1 with his quick second-period goal, Fischer delivered his ninth of the season after an awkward rebound when Gibson was unable to corral the puck behind his own goal.

Kase gave the Ducks another two-goal lead at 4-2 when he redirected a puck off his left hip and into the Coyotes' goal. But Cousins and Chychrun scored 39 seconds apart to tie the score 4-4.

The game was played one day after a trade between the two teams. The Ducks acquired defenseman Trevor Murphy, while forward Giovanni Fiore was dealt to Arizona.

--Field Level Media

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