LDN - Sports

Rakell, Ducks dump Coyotes

[November 05, 2016] ANAHEIM, Calif. -- After just three games, Rickard Rakell is back in his role as a key member of the Anaheim Ducks' offense.

Rakell had two goals and an assist to lead the Ducks to a 5-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Friday night at the Honda Center.

The 23-year-old Swede, who had career highs of 20 goals and 43 points last season, has three goals and six points since returning to the Ducks' lineup Tuesday night. Rakell missed the first nine games while negotiating a new contract as a restricted free agent.

"He's a gifted kid, and we're very fortunate to have him," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. "It looks like the game is slow for him. That's what's amazing for those young players who have that skill set. The puck follows them around, and they can do things that other people don't want to try."

Rakell, who signed a six-year contract worth $22.8 million on Oct. 14, is succeeding despite not quite being at full strength.

"I still think that I'm trying to find my groove a little bit," Rakell said. "I get tired sometimes. I think it's just a little bit of timing, being strong on the puck at all times, some stuff in the defensive zone.

"I think it's a process, and right now, things are going my way. As long as I keep getting scoring chances and making stuff happen, I'm satisfied."

Antoine Vermette finished with a goal and an assist, Corey Perry added two assists, and goalie John Gibson stopped 21 shots for the Ducks (5-5-2).

"Tonight was a statement that we have to approach the game a little differently, maybe, than we had for the first five or six games," Carlyle said. "Our defense was much more effective moving the puck. We didn't really tax our goaltender. We were disciplined. We didn't take a bunch of stupid penalties."

Jamie McGinn scored for the Coyotes (4-7-0), who conceded 33 shots on goal one night after defeating the Nashville Predators in a shootout in Phoenix.

"You learn a lot about your team in games like this, who can compete on a nightly basis in a hard back-to-back for three and four minutes," Arizona coach Dave Tippett said. "A lot of that will be noted tonight."

Anaheim built a 3-0 lead in the first period, with Kevin Bieksa's power-play goal beginning the scoring. Rakell dug out the puck from the right corner and passed to Perry at the right circle. Perry sent the puck across the ice to Bieksa, who fired a slap shot from the left point past goalie Louis Domingue at 9:05 for his first goal of the season.

Roughly three minutes later, Rakell extended the lead to 2-0. Michael Sgarbossa began the scoring sequence when he secured the puck at the right boards in the Ducks' zone and freed Perry for a two-on-one breakaway. Perry faked a shot before passing to Rakell, who dragged a wrist shot from the left circle inside the left post at 12:11 for his second goal.

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With 45 seconds left in the first period, Jakob Silfverberg gave Anaheim its third goal. Coyotes defenseman Alex Goligoski tried to clear the puck from behind the net, but Vermette intercepted it and sent a backhand pass to Silfverberg, who scored his third goal with a backhand shot inside the left post.

"It was a terrible start to the game," McGinn said. "We're sitting back on our heels. It's twice we weren't prepared to play back-to-back games. We're embarrassed."

Tippett replaced Domingue with Justin Peters after the Ducks out-shot the Coyotes 21-4 in the first period. Domingue made 18 saves.

"I feel bad for Louis," McGinn said. "We hung him out to dry. He's been our backbone, and we can't do that to him. That ruins his confidence."

Vermette increased Anaheim's advantage to 4-0 at 13:23 of the second period. After Coyotes defenseman Connor Murphy blocked Ondrej Kase's wrist shot at the left circle, Vermette secured the loose puck and launched a slap shot from the top of the slot. Kase earned his first NHL assist after making his debut Wednesday night.

McGinn broke the shutout at 16:32 of the middle period when he redirected Radim Vrbata's pass from the right circle for his third goal.

Rakell recorded his second goal of the game at 14:11 of the third period when he dislodged the puck underneath Peters' left leg pad. Tippett challenged the call, but video replay confirmed the goal.

Peters stopped 10 of the 12 shots he faced.

NOTES: Arizona scratched C Laurent Dauphin, C Martin Hanzal and D Michael Stone. ... Coyotes LW Tobias Rieder returned to action after missing Thursday night's game because of a lower-body injury. ... Coyotes D Oliver Ekman-Larsson needs six goals to pass Fredrick Olausson and move into third place on the franchise's career list for goals by a defenseman. Olausson scored 86 times between 1986 and 1994. ... Anaheim scratched C Ryan Getzlaf and LW Nick Ritchie. ... The Ducks sent D Shea Theodore to San Diego (AHL) and D Jakob Larsson to Sweden's Frolunda HC on Thursday. Larsson, 19, played just four games with Anaheim.

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