GLENDALE, Ariz. _ Once again, the Anaheim Ducks got to the point of liftoff and ended up scrapping their launch.
Like any coin that has two sides, the Ducks seem to have theirs and it is good and bad. Average teams are often like that and the flip side to their confident win over the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday was on display one night later in the desert.
Instead of flying post-game, the Ducks waited until Monday morning to head to Arizona and it looked as if several were still stuck at the airport when the puck dropped at Gila River Arena. The Coyotes jumped all over them in the first period and held on for a 3-2 win.
Not only did the Ducks (31-20-10) miss an opportunity to sweep the season series against a team in the Pacific Division basement but they failed in their chance to move past Edmonton into second place. The Oilers also now have two games in hand.
The final tally will show that the Ducks had a significant edge in shots on goal. They also didn't have to deal with Coyotes goalie Mike Smith for much of the third period. But this one was decided early.
Arizona scored all three of its goals within the first 15 minutes. And it was often the result of the Ducks either committing defensive breakdowns or simply not getting back to defend properly. Because of that, Jonathan Bernier was victimized in a rare start in goal.
Christian Dvorak scored on the Coyotes' first shot as he got a breakaway when Cam Fowler was left alone to defend after Kevin Bieksa jumped up in the play. Jakob Chychrun made it 2-0 after Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf failed to get back and track the rookie defenseman on his easy one-timer.
Radim Vrbata got the third score and that was needed as Getzlaf scored twice, with his second goal coming with 26.8 seconds left to pull the Ducks within 3-2. The Coyotes survived at the very end when Sami Vatanen's last-second try was stopped by goalie Marek Langhamer.
Langhamer came in cold for his NHL debut after Smith left the game early in the third because of an unknown issue.
