When the Anaheim Ducks signed Ryan Miller you had to figure it would be simply a safety net for John Gibson as the number one goalie.
But this season Gibson has been injured and shelved more than a few times and Saturday Miller came through again as more than the safety backup.
Miller made 31 saves to record his fourth shutout of the season and give the Ducks second place in the Pacific Division ahead of the San Jose Sharks who lost to the 
Minnesota Wild Saturday.
“This last stretch of hockey is very important and it didn’t look like I would be playing a role in that for a while. I’m happy to contribute and do my job,” Miller said after the game.
The Ducks defeated the Arizona Coyotes, 3-0 for the win and jump ahead in the ladder chase.
Adam Henrique, Rickard Rakell and Hampus Lindholm had the Ducks’ strikes in the win.
Anaheim finished the season on a 10-1-1 run.
“I think we’re in a good spot,” Henrique said. “Obviously there’s familiarity there. They’ve been playing really well, but our focus needs to be on ourselves and our game and what we need to do in order to have success.”
Considering the slow start o the season and a few skids along the campaign trail, the Ducks ended where they had hoped, in the playoffs.
“It’s kind of crazy to think that way with where we’ve come from,” Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle said of finishing second after an injury-riddled season. “We had a plan and we tried to execute a plan. I’m not standing here saying it was perfect by any means. We had lots of speed bumps along the way, but it’s about trying to garner points and move up in the standings.”
The Coyotes meanwhile, ended their season with a 20-14-7 record in 2018 and just missed a 30-win season by a single victory.
“I thought we got better from October so there’s some good, positive things, but we’ve got a lot of work to do,” Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet said. “I have a grocery list. We’ve just got to keep pushing the pedal. We can’t stand pat. We can’t pat ourselves on the back, ‘hey, we had a great second half.’ No, we’re still one of the bottom teams.”
[WATCH: All Ducks vs. Coyotes highlights]
Antti Raanta made 24 saves in the loss.
“It wasn’t the game we were looking for but at the same time I’m proud of the guys. It’s not easy to play in these games that we don’t really have anything, standing-wise, to play for,” the Coyotes’ Oliver Ekman-Larsson said after the season-ending loss.
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