Anaheim Ducks look to continue hot start with win over Coyotes

Notable Facts and Notes:

• Ducks’ right winger Silfverberg (1 goal, 4 assists) and left wing Max Comtois (2 goals, 1 assist) are on a three-game point streak to start the season.
• Anaheim has not allowed a power-play goal yet this season, going 9 for 9 on the penalty kill (penalty kill means when the team is down 1 or 2 men for taking penalties).
• Generating shots on goal has been an issue for the Ducks thus far. They rank 30th in total shots on goal with an average of 20.7/game through 3 games.
• In his career, Gibson is 5-1-0 (5 wins, 1 loss, 1 no decision) in seven appearances against Arizona.
• Arizona’s goaltender Antti Raanta is 2-3-1 (2 wins, 3 regulation losses, 1 shootout loss) in his career against Anaheim.
• The Coyotes are the only team that has yet to score a goal this season.
• The Coyotes rank 25th in blocked shots, having only blocked 19 so far.

Preview: Anaheim Ducks (3-0-0, 6 pts.) vs. Arizona Coyotes (0-2-0, 0 pts.)

The Coyotes will be seeking revenge after they were shutout in the first meeting between the two clubs. After three days off, the Coyotes should be fresh and will hope to outwork a Ducks’ team that has been hit hard with the injury bug. However, the Coyotes will also be missing star forward Alex Galchenyuk, who has yet to appear in a regular season game this season.

Arizona Coach Rick Tocchet will be looking to his young players like forwards Christian Dvorak, Brendan Perlini, and rising star Clayton Keller to generate offense against a more youthful Ducks team. Coyotes’ captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson is also one to keep an eye on throughout the night as he is one of the best defensemen in the league. More on that later.

Ducks’ Coach Randy Carlyle will also be searching for a better, more consistent effort from his team after he saw them chase the Red Wings for a majority of Monday’s game.

In fact, the Ducks’ first three games have shown a trend; the Ducks have had considerably less offensive zone time in all three of their wins, spending more time in their defensive zone. Gibson has bailed them out on almost all dangerous shots toward the net

This type of play is not sustainable to say the least, for the Ducks or Gibson.

Its hard to say that the Ducks are a faster team, but I am happy to say that they are. They can play much better than they have shown. The Coyotes are a young team, but they should not be underestimated. The Ducks need to spend more time in the offensive zone if they want to be successful.