RECAP: Coyotes Get Eaten By Ducks
Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports
Well Yotes fans, you got what you wanted. You asked for a Greiss start and Tippy delivered. And to Greiss’ credit, he didn’t fall apart in the 3rd period like Mike Smith has been lately. Nope! He did his crumbling in the 2nd. And then after he was scored on four times he got the hook, Showtime at the Apollo style. Get that man out of there!
And yet, even though the Coyotes at times looked more Wiley than predatory, there is still signs of hope that come out of this loss. For one, Yandle seemed to finally be out of his “post Olympic snub rut”. He displayed some familiar spark, both on the ice and off. He even offered his thoughts on what he needs to do going forward.
"I’ve been terrible so I take a lot of the credit. I mean, a lot of the blame for that is, you know, put on me. I’m kinda not helping my team win and I need to get back to doing things right and help my team win games."
Then when asked what he thinks the team needs to do to get a win, he responded-
"Well, it’s gotta be one of those games where, like we say, it’s Coyote hockey. It’s simple. And we gotta find a way to get a greasy win. Hopefully get the moral back from that, get that going and move on from there."
What this shows me is ownership of the teams issues. A good sign for an athlete who prides himself on being one of the best in the game. Tonight’s game must have been especially hard for Keith because it was on his turnover that the Anaheim Ducks were able to even the score in the 1st period.
But enough about what was and what may be let’s get into the scoring RECAP.
1st Period: The Coyotes came out hard and fast and nabbed the first goal. A great way to start, but after accomplishing that task they seemed to let off on the gas.
– Korpikoski, hot off his inclusion in the Sochi Games, scores in the top corner making it 1-0 Yotes.
– After Greiss laid out for a save the Ducks Lindholm catches a rebound and puts it in. 1-1 tie.
2nd Period: Like I said before. The 2nd Period wasn’t pretty.
– Ducks defenseman Sami Vatanen slips one past Greiss to put the Anaheim Fowl up 2-1.
– Greiss puts up one heck of a fight but Ducks Forward Dustin Penner gets a one timer to go up 3-1 Ducks.
– Greiss loses his net to Mike Smith after Penner again gets his stick on puck, this time giving it to Forward Ryan Getzlaf. 4-1 Ducks.
3rd Period: Some sloppy play leads to a sloppy goal and the Coyotes do their best to make it interesting.
– Lindholm gets a pass that slips in way too easily. 5-1 Ducks.
– FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! Klelsa and Maroon throw off the mitts and go to town on each other. Klelsa has to be pulled off. He totally won, eh.
– During a 5 on 3 PP Hanzal skates one in making it 5-2. It literally bounced off his skate. Thank God it held up to scrutiny upon further examination.
– Vrbata feeds the crease and Rebeiro pots it in making it 5-3. And that’s where it ended up folks.
Still a lot to be proud of in this game. There’s fight in these Yotes yet and if they can correct some mistakes they’ll be right back in the running for the post season. That’s it for now. Gotta admit, it was exciting to see Big Red the Cardinal’s mascot on the ice. Gosh, I miss football already, don’t you? Until next time, stay ornery Arizona!