ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Adam Henrique scored a power-play goal 43 seconds into overtime, Jamie Drysdale had a goal and an assist in his NHL debut and the Anaheim Ducks rallied from an early two-goal deficit and beat the Arizona Coyotes 3-2 on Thursday night.
Trevor Zegras scored his first career goal, Ryan Miller made 23 saves and the Ducks ended a four-game losing streak.
Henrique scored on a sharp-angle one-timer on a pass from from Kevin Shattenkirk to complete the comeback for Anaheim, which trailed 2-0 midway through the first period.
“That was a real encouraging thing tonight, to see our younger guys demonstrating skill … and then seeing our veterans just dig in and work,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said. “It was an interesting and a fun night for sure.”
Conor Garland and Clayton Keller scored for the Coyotes, who dropped their fifth straight game. Adin Hill made 28 saves.
“It was really frustrating. What is that, five in a row? That’s frustrating in and of itself,” Garland said.
Zegras, who was drafted ninth overall in 2019, used an impressive bit of skill for his first goal. He faked a shot to the near post as he charged in on net and got Hill to commit before pulling the puck back to his right and flicking it in at the edge of the crease to tie it at 2-all at 14:30 of the second period.
“I just tried to cut in behind the defenseman and try to just make a little room there. So, finally, one finally went in, which felt good,” Zegras said.
With the arrival of Drysdale, the sixth overall pick in the 2020 draft, representing another step in Anaheim’s rebuild, it was the youth movement that sparked the Ducks’ offense. Drysdale’s shot from the point deflected off a Coyote player and got the Ducks within 2-1 at 12:01. He picked up the secondary assist on Zegras’ goal.
“It’s a really exciting time for me and my family so I think it was just really nice to get out there. I was joking with ‘Z’ on the way here saying, ‘If I don’t fall on my solo lap (during warmups), then it’s a win.’ It was a lot of fun to get that one under my belt, and getting the win made it that much better,” Drysdale said.
Drysdale is the third NHL defenseman younger than 19 with multiple points in his debut, joining Ray Bourque and Petr Svoboda.
The Coyotes scored twice in the first period, matching their offensive production during the previous four games. Garland put Arizona ahead 1:13 into the game, burying Nick Schmaltz’s pass for his ninth goal. Keller made it 2-0 at 7:07, sneaking a wrist shot from the left circle in at the short side off Garland’s feed.
“We want to find a way to get that third goal as a line and kind of deliver that knockout punch. I mean, three goals is hard to come back in the NHL so we have to find a way to get one. We get two early and just couldn’t find a way to get another one so it stings,” Garland said.
The Coyotes and Ducks will play again in Anaheim on Saturday.
UP THE RANKS
Miller won his 390th game, passing Dominik Hasek to take sole possession of 14th place in NHL history. “I’m just trying to enjoy and play. I think the evaluation of what I’ve done on the ice I can get more into later. I just want to keep being in the moment now, if that makes sense,” Miller said.
MR. 700
Ryan Getzlaf had the secondary assist on Drysdale’s goal to reach 700 in his career. Already the franchise leader in assists, he is the 55th player in NHL history with 700. The next big milestone awaiting Getzlaf is becoming the Ducks’ all-time leader in points. He is 12 away from passing Teemu Selanne’s 988.
GIBSON TO IR
The Ducks placed goalie John Gibson (lower body) on injured reserve Thursday. Gibson missed his third game and hasn’t played since allowing five goals on 24 shots in a 6-0 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Friday.
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