After the Phoenix Coyotes led two-thirds of the game, the Anaheim Ducks came back to win 2-1.

The Coyotes played a typical first period on the road, however if it wasn't for Curtis Joseph, the game would have been solidly in the Ducks favor. Joseph made some incredible saves and kept the team in the game.

Late in the first period, Keith Ballard had the puck behind his net and was marked by an Anaheim Ducks player who was facing Joseph. Steven Reinprecht skated around the net and the Ducks player followed him which allowed Ballard to skate away.

Ballard then made a two line pass to Fredrik Sjostrom who initially had the puck bouncing off of the heel of his stick. He caught a break when Francois Beauchemin stood there mesmerized, looking at the puck. Sjostrom took advantage of the opportunity and scored on J.S. Giguere and the Coyotes led 1-0.

They escaped certain disaster in the second period when they kept making turnovers inside their own zone and the Ducks could not capitalize. Joseph stopped everything but the kitchen sink and the lead remained with the Coyotes 1-0 after two.

The Ducks make teams pay when they are afforded chance after chance. In the third period, the Ducks kept them hemmed inside their zone and the Coyotes could not make passes. The turnover issue continued to be problematic for the Coyotes and Travis Moen tied the game for the Ducks at one with a weird sequence which had the Coyotes committing two penalties and the Moen goal wipes out one of them.

Seconds later, the Ducks went on a power play and they took the lead with an Andy McDonald goal that ended up being the game winner.

The Coyotes will have a difficult time in this stretch of games if their goaltenders have to stop 30 or more shots. Giving opportunities to a quality team like the Ducks will not enable them to win. Joseph ended up facing 40 shots and I do not expect him to play against the best team of the NHL, the Nashville Predators, Thursday night.

The Ducks played an amazing defensive game not allowing the Coyotes to generate any offense or any kind of organized rush. They smothered the Coyote forwards and did not give them any time to make plays forcing them into bad decisions.

20 out of the next 31 games the Coyotes will play are with teams that have a solid chance at the playoffs. However, the next two or three will indicate to me whether the Coyotes have a remote shot at getting there for this season.

Original post by PB and software by Elliott Back

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