In Anaheim Wednesday night, Antti Raanta made 23 saves in regulation through overtime to force a shootout with the Ducks and help the Arizona Coyotes to a 3-2 win.
Raanta stopped all three shooters for the Ducks in the skills competition.
“I think [the first win] relieves a little bit of pressure. I thought we did some good parts, but a little loose too. We’re going to enjoy the win. We have some work to do but there was a lot of chances on both teams tonight, especially early on,” Arizona head coach Rick Tocchet said after his team’s first win.
Dylan Strome and Brad Richardson were the goal scorers for the Coyotes in regulation.
“Off the bat, I just wanted to make every save I can and give us a chance to win,” Raanta said. “We scored a couple goals, so the confidence went straight up.”
Nick Cousins potted the only marker in the skills competition to give the Yotes their first win of the season.
“It was a lot of relief,” Strome said. “Everyone was kind of just like oh, thank God. We definitely didn’t want to go into the end of a period, another period, without scoring a goal.”
Ryan Kesler and Ben Street scored for the Ducks who dropped to 3-0-1.
“It was nice to hear the cheers, and the welcome back that I got was pretty special since everything I went through for past year and a half,” Kesler said. “It hasn’t been fun, and I had fun out there tonight.”
[WATCH: All Coyotes vs. Ducks highlights]
John Gibson made 37stops for the loss.
“As a team tonight we played pretty good but we’re just giving up too many chances and too many shots, and we need to shore that up. “We’re fortunate to be 3-0-1 and, saying that, we’re glad we are,” Kesler said after the loss.
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