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Bryzgalov sharp as Ducks edge Coyotes

Oct 8, 2006 - 4:51 AM GLENDALE, Arizona (Ticker) -- It's still early in the season, but the Anaheim Ducks appear to have the luxury of possessing two quality goaltenders.

Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 34 shots and Teemu Selanne and Dustin Penner scored power-play goals to propel the Ducks to a 2-1 triumph over the Phoenix Coyotes.

One night after Jean-Sebastien Giguere turned aside 41 shots in Anaheim's 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings, Bryzgalov allowed just one goal and made numerous saves without giving up dangerous rebounds.

"The defense made my job easier," Bryzgalov said. "I could always see the puck and see the shots. It is not a big deal to face 35 shots. That is not that many scoring chances. To me, it was not a very tough game tonight."

Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle gave Bryzgalov the start after Giguere's busy outing against the Kings.

"That was my plan," Carlyle said. "I thought that I would not be fair to not give Ilya a start with the back-to-back games and last night giving up 40 shots. It made sense to start him tonight and give each of them an opportunity. They are 1-A and 1-B."

The Ducks took a 1-0 lead at 2:15 of the first period on Selanne's power-play tally. The right wing stood at the edge of the crease and tipped rookie defenseman Shane O'Brien's pass from the point past goaltender Curtis Joseph.

Anaheim doubled the lead with 2:15 to go in the session, when Penner skated down the left side and buried the rebound of Corey Perry's shot.

"I kind of sat back and Perry put a good hard shot on net and it came right to where the coaching staff wants us to be," Penner said. "It was an easy goal. Our power play is definitely very strong. It will intimidate and scare teams."

Phoenix halved the deficit when Zbynek Michalek took a pass from fellow defenseman Keith Ballard in the slot and one-timed the puck by Bryzgalov for a power-play goal with eight minutes left in the second.

Michalek felt his club was doomed by a slow start.

"We have to be ready for the start of the game," he said. "They got the lead early and we could not get back. They scored two goals on the power play, and their power play is really dangerous. We played better the second half of the game. We had more chances, but we couldn't get anything through."

Phoenix captain Shane Doan did not believe his team was ready to play from the start.

"If you spot that team two goals, you are going to be in trouble," Doan said. "We battled back to get the one, but we couldn't get the equalizer. We were a little bit groggy in the first period. This year, we have different guys and they have different guys. It is going to be a different (season) series."

Joseph made 23 saves for the Coyotes, who outshot the Ducks, 35-25.