Goaltender Connor Ingram posted his fourth shutout of the season to lead the visiting Arizona Coyotes to a 2-0 victory over the free-falling Anaheim Ducks on Friday.
Clayton Keller and Lawson Crouse scored for the Coyotes, who have won two straight games and six of seven outings.
Ingram made 28 saves — 11 of them in the third period — to record his fifth career shutout in the game that became heated at times.
The Coyotes, who will kick off a five-game homestand Tuesday, strengthened their hold on the Western Conference’s first wild-card spot.
Goaltender John Gibson stopped 30 shots for the Ducks, who have only four victories in their last 20 games and sit 30th overall in the league.
Despite the loss, Gibson provided his share of highlight-reel saves to keep his team in the game.
Anaheim has lost three of the first four outings in an eight-game homestand, the club’s longest of the season.
Keller’s power-play goal opened the scoring at the 7:38 mark of the first period. Keller set up inside the right circle during the man advantage and unloaded a one-timer set up by Nick Schmaltz for Keller’s 13th goal of the season.
Crouse doubled the lead with his team-leading 16th tally of the season. Just past the midway point of the second period, Crouse was alone just below the right face-off dot when Matias Maccelli fired a seeing-eye, cross-ice pass for Crouse to blast a one-timed slap shot to make it 2-0.
Anaheim attempted a comeback in the third period, but the Coyotes, who have greatly improved their defensive play from past seasons, held strong with Ingram sealing the shutout.
— Field Level Media