Arizona Coyotes shut out Ducks for 6th win in last 7 games

The Arizona Coyotes picked up a 2-0 road victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Friday with goaltender Connor Ingram stopping 28 shots in his fourth shutout of the season.

Clayton Keller and Lawson Crouse scored Arizona’s two goals, and the Coyotes have won six of seven games entering the new year at 19-14-2 and in the first wild card spot.

The performance followed a four-goal comeback victory over the Colorado Avalanche at Mullett Arena on Wednesday.

“The last two games, I don’t think we wavered,” Arizona coach André Tourigny said. “I think we played solid every game. We’re consistent. I’m happy about the mindset, what we’re trying to do, the focus, the communication on the bench. Everything right now, it’s pretty good.”

The Coyotes took advantage of their first power play opportunity in the opening period during a chaotic sequence in which Keller scored his 13th goal of the season. Nick Schmaltz and Alexander Kerfoot earned assists after Matias Maccelli kept the puck in the zone after a pass got away.

Clayton Keller’s power play one-timer sizzles into the back of the net for the opening goal of the game!#Yotes pic.twitter.com/y2AcQhSZ6C

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) December 30, 2023

Arizona nearly doubled the lead moments later when Jason Zucker lifted a backhander just over the goal, hitting the post.

Ingram saved 10 shots in the opening 20 minutes.

“Not a lot I didn’t see, so that’s huge,” Ingram said. “When you see it, you’re probably going to stop it. So I think we did a great job of that and got it done. Let’s get out of here and go home.”

Crouse scored his team-leading 16th goal of the year during the second period off a cross-ice pass from Maccelli. Crouse has goals in three of his last four games.

Another notable moment from the second period involved a skirmish between Jack McBain and Anaheim’s Sam Carrick, with the latter landing an uppercut in some traffic. The two went to the box, where Carrick made his feelings known on camera. Carrick got four minutes and McBain two.

Sam Carrick exchanging words in the box🤣 pic.twitter.com/7VdFVgpJUt

— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) December 30, 2023

Arizona matched its road victory total from last season. The Coyotes had an NHL-worst seven road wins last season while finishing seventh in the Central Division, but this seventh road victory of the new season moved Arizona up to fourth in the division in its final game of 2023.

Anaheim was shut out for the third time in 10 games and the second time in four games on its current eight-game homestand.

“They outworked us, and they won 70% of the 1-on-1 puck battles,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “We couldn’t make a pass. We couldn’t hit tape. To me, it looked like they came out to win a hockey game, we came out to play hockey. … That game easily could have been 5-0.″

The Coyotes won two of the three games they’ll play this year against Anaheim with an overtime defeat.

Arizona returns home for five games, starting Tuesday against the Florida Panthers.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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