Jonathan Bernier has ridden the Anaheim Ducks’ bench for a long time this season but in Glendale on Saturday night, he made 26 saves in 3-0 shutout of the Arizona Coyotes.
It was his first start since late December and first shutout in a Ducks sweater.
“It was a great win for us on the road, and having my mom here makes it even more special. She’ll be pretty happy,” Bernier said. “After the first 10 minutes I really felt good, and I have to give credit to the guys, they were there for rebounds and let me see a lot of pucks.”
Hampus Lindholm, Nick Ritchie and Ryan Kesler scored for the Ducks.
“We were staunch enough on the defensive side of it that our goalie [wasn’t] called upon to make a bunch of 10-bell saves,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. “But he pitched us a shutout and it was great to see Bernier coming back after not playing for a while and it strengthens our belief the 1-A (starter John Gibson) and 1-B tandem that we have.”
The win pushed Anaheim to a 24-13-8 record.
The Coyotes’ Louie Domingue made 20 saves as Arizona fell to 13-23-6 on the season.
“We had some opportunities to score but we’re missing too many nets,” said Arizona defenseman Michael Stone, who hit the post in the second period. “There’s no magic solution. You just have to bear down on what you are doing and execute.”
The Ritchie goal came off a weird bounce off the back boards with the puck finding him in the slot for the goal.
“This building, it’s so unpredictable. You never know when you’re gonna get Gila’d,”Domingue said of the carom and goal.
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