Coyotes rally in OT to beat Ducks on Boedker’s goal
Nov 10, 2015, 12:05 AM
(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Mikkel Boedker arrived so quickly for his postgame interview on Monday that he beat the cameraman FOX Sports Arizona had hired to shoot his interview with Todd Walsh.
“We’ve got no camera here,” Boedker told Coyotes media relations manager Greg Dillard with a grin. “Do you have a cell phone or something?”
The media weren’t the only ones who couldn’t keep up with Boedker in Anaheim. Arizona’s speedy forward scored on a breakaway in overtime to cap the Coyotes’ come-from-behind, 4-3 win over the Ducks on Monday at Honda Center
It was the kind of win that can bolster a young team’s confidence and a fan base’s confidence.
Max Domi had a pair of second-period goals to improve his Calder Trophy resume, Anthony Duclair scored his fourth goal in two game against the Ducks and Arizona won for the second time in two meetings in Anaheim to make backup goalie Anders Lindback a winner in his second start of the season.
“We kept hanging around the game and that’s what we wanted to do tonight: play a real good strong road game,” Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. “Getting down and then chipping back in; I thought we did enough things to deserve the win.”
The Coyotes spotted Anaheim a 2-0 lead when Chris Stewart banged home a rebound of Hampus Lindholm’s shot on a power play at 5:43 of the first period, and Ryan Kesler redirected Sami Vatanen’s point shot for a 2-0 lead at the 6:49 mark.
Even then, Tippett wasn’t concerned.
“I thought we were playing well and in the second period I thought we played better,” he said. “We gave up the lead but we thought we were doing a lot of things well.”
Duclair got the rally started when he beat Ducks goalie Frederik Andersen from the near circle for the Coyotes’ second power-play goal in as many games early in the second period. Duclair had a hat trick in the team’s 4-0 win in this building last month.
“I think it’s Duke’s favorite,” Domi said. “He’s pretty hot here.”
Domi was the beneficiary of some good corner work from Boedker, who won the puck from two Ducks, pushed it to Sunday call-up Dustin Jeffrey, who got it across to Domi to tie the game at 15:57 of the second period.
Domi then gave the Coyotes the lead with eight seconds left in the second period. The goal pulled him into a tie with the New York Rangers’ Oscar Lindberg for the rookie scoring lead with seven goals.
“Max was opportunistic tonight,” Tippett said. “He just found the puck at the right time and just put it in.
“With your offensive players, they’ve got to play well all over the ice but when you get that opportunity to score, that’s what separates them from checkers. That’s how they have to impact the game; that’s how star players impact the game.”
The Ducks got the equalizer from Vatanen midway through the third period and had a chance to win it late when they were awarded a 5-on-3 power play for 53 seconds, but Lindback made the best of his 33 saves when he robbed Kesler with his left pad in tight to force overtime.
Boedker scored just 1:18 into overtime to give him four goals and 10 points in his last seven games.
When asked after the game who would start in goal Tuesday against Los Angeles, Tippett said the staff would talk about it, but he was leaning toward playing Mike Smith, who has a career 2.13 goals against average and a .931 save percentage against the Kings in 20 games.
“I thought Anders was real solid in there,” Tippett said. “He made a lot of saves look easy.”
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