Ryan Kesler stole the puck, skated in while he was being held by a defender, and scored while short-handed.
And that wasn’t even the best goal of the night for the new-look Anaheim Ducks.
Jakob Silfverberg later grabbed his own rebound off the post with his hand, dropped it to his stick, and scored in the Ducks’ 4-1 victory over the Arizona Coyotes that moved Anaheim into a first-place tie in the Western Conference.
“That was incredible,” Kesler said of Silfverberg’s goal. “I can’t believe he made that play.”
The acrobatic goals came amid more good news for Anaheim in its third straight win. Frederik Andersen stopped 29 shots in his return from injury, and Simon Despres, a day after being acquired from Pittsburgh, assisted on the first of Andrew Cogliano’s two goals.
“It’s almost a different type of team now with the speed that we got,” coach Bruce Boudreau said of the moves that brought in four players before the NHL trade deadline.
Tobias Rieder scored in the Coyotes’ 10th straight regulation loss, matching a franchise record set when the team was in Winnipeg in 1994.
Mike Smith stopped 31 shots for the Coyotes, who also lost their ninth in a row at home, tying a club record set earlier this season.
Andersen hadn’t played since Feb. 8 in Tampa Bay, sitting out 10 games because of a neck injury. He looked sharp, stopping 29 shots for his 50th career win in only 68 starts.
It included a diving arm save of Martin Erat’s backhand early in the second period. He also stuffed Shane Doan’s breakaway attempt.
“I felt pretty good the whole game,” Andersen said.
The Ducks are safely ahead in the Pacific Division, but general manager Bob Murray was busy before Monday’s NHL trade deadline, adding depth in hopes of avoiding the playoff flameouts of the past two seasons.
Despres and winger Tomas Fleischmann, acquired from Florida, made their Anaheim debuts.
New defenseman James Wisniewski, acquired from Columbus, and Korbinian Holzer from Toronto were expected to join the team on Wednesday.
Fleischmann was paired with Kesler and Silfverberg, who each had highlight-reel goals.
Kesler took the puck from Coyotes newcomer John Moore, wrestled through Sam Gagner and sent a wrist shot through Smith at 13:34 of the first period as the referee was about to call a penalty on Gagner.
Silfverberg’s shot early in the third period bounced off the right post. Silfverberg skated in, knocked the rebound down on the fly to his stick and sent a shot between Smith’s legs to make it 3-1.
“Instinct, just catch it and put it on my stick,” Silfverberg said. “It happened pretty quick.”
Cogliano, playing in his NHL-best 605th consecutive game, added an empty-net goal with 2:34 left.
The Coyotes made a flurry of moves in the past week, too, but they are moving in the opposite direction.
With general manager Don Maloney acknowledging they are embarking on a three-to-five year rebuilding plan, Arizona sent defenseman Keith Yandle to the New York Rangers, center Antoine Vermette to Chicago and defenseman Zbynek Michaelek to St. Louis.
The trades give the Coyotes prospects and two first-round draft picks in each of the next two years. In the short term, however, Arizona is contending for the worst record in the NHL.
Moore and fellow defenseman Klas Dahlbeck made their Arizona debuts. So did forwards Tye McGinn and Craig Cunningham, claimed off waivers on Monday.
“There’s lots of talking, lots of teaching and lots of preparation that you wouldn’t normally do in midseason like this,” Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said.
There was a rare fight between captains in the second period when Doan went after Ryan Getzlaf after Anaheim’s Corey Perry crashed into Smith. It led to several more scrums for the Coyotes in what has been an emotional week for Doan, who has seen longtime teammates depart.
“Our guys competed hard,” Tippett said, “whether it was sticking up for each other, or Shane getting into a tussle.”
NOTES: It was Kesler’s first short-handed goal with the Ducks and the 11th of his career. … Coyotes D Oliver Ekman-Larsson and C Kyle Chipchura became alternate captains following the departure of Yandle and Vermette. … Fleischmann wore No. 14 after being 41 with the Panthers. … Ducks C Michael Sgarbossa, acquired from Florida in the Fleischmann deal, was sent to Norfolk of the AHL.
Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times
