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Wednesday, Dec. 22 10:30pm ET
Coyotes overwhelm Mighty Ducks | |||||
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BOX SCORE
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- The Phoenix Coyotes rebounded from their most lopsided loss with one of their best efforts. Greg Adams scored twice during a five-goal third period, and Jyrki Lumme had three assists Wednesday night as the Coyotes ended Anaheim's four-game winning streak with an 8-2 victory over the Mighty Ducks.
"We had to make a statement," Adams said. "We were embarrassed last night and we had to redeem ourselves quick. "We had a lot of jump, we came out hard and we got a lot of breaks. We were fortunate the puck was going in for us. And when you get on a roll like that, the game just seems easy." The Coyotes also became the first team to score eight goals against the Mighty Ducks since Feb. 1, 1995, when Anaheim lost 9-1 at Dallas. "You're never as good as you think you are when things are going well, and you're never as bad as you think you are when things are going poorly," coach Bobby Francis said. "We had to refind our identity tonight, and this game served that purpose. It served as a cleansing of last night's game." Shane Doan and Adams scored on the Coyotes' first two shots against relief goalie Dominic Roussel, who played the final period after Guy Hebert left with neck spasms trailing 3-1. "Guy tried to play through it," coach Craig Hartsburg said. "But at the end of the second period it got stiff and he couldn't go anymore." Keith Tkachuk, Jeremy Roenick, rookie Trevor Letowski and Mike Sullivan also had goals and Stan Neckar, on his 24th birthday, capped the Coyotes scoring with his first of the season. It was the first time in nine games that Anaheim surrendered more than two goals, and the only the fourth time Hebert has done it in 20 games. The last time the Ducks lost at home by five or more was Dec. 20, 1995, when Detroit beat them 6-1. "We had defensive lapses, starting with the forwards," Paul Kariya said. "We turned over the puck a lot. It was inexcusable to play like that especially in the third period." Bob Essensa, who made 27 saves, won his 127th game for the Coyotes franchise, breaking Nikolai Khabibulin's club record. The only shots to elude Essensa were Kariya's power-play score with 2:01 left in the second and Jeff Neilsen's goal with 23 seconds left in the game. Sullivan opened the scoring at 5:28 of the second with his third goal when he beat Hebert between the pads with a short wrist shot. The Coyotes, who lead the season series 3-1, made it 2-0 at 11:10 of the second. Tkachuk got a pass in the neutral zone from Lumme, skated into the left circle and beat Hebert to the glove side. "Everything that we've had success with we didn't do tonight," said Hartsburg, whose team has given up only 10 goals in its previous eight games. "It's an embarrassment, a disgrace, and it shouldn't have happened." Tkachuk's 16th goal came just 36 seconds after Ducks defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky hit the right post with a wrist shot. Hebert was still getting his neck massaged at the end of the bench when the Coyotes blew the game open. Doan surprised Roussel with his 10th goal from short range and Adams followed 3:16 later with his ninth on a breakaway. Letowski's ninth goal made it 6-1 and Adams connected on a power play with 7:36 remaining. The Ducks got the first of their three power plays when Roenick was sent off for cross-checking at 12:54 of the first. Essensa made acrobatic saves on Fredrik Olausson and Teemu Selanne at the edge of the crease about a minute apart, while Sullivan played without his stick for most of the power play. "Bobby made some outstanding saves in that first period -- particularly on that power play when they had four quality chances," Francis said. "That's what you need sometimes from your goaltender. He bought us some time."
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