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Doan, Mueller lift Coyotes past Ducks

Nov 8, 2007 - 7:27 AM By Craig Shultz PA Sportsticker Contributing Writer

ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Captain Shane Doan scored the game-winning goal in overtime and rookie Peter Mueller recorded his first career hat trick to help the Phoenix Coyotes post a 6-5 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night.

The Coyotes' top pick - eighth overall - in the 2006 NHL draft, Mueller tallied in each period and Steven Reinprecht added a goal and two assists as Phoenix avenged a 5-2 loss to the Ducks on Saturday and won its second straight game in Anaheim after losing the previous 10.

After Ducks right wing Corey Perry collided with teammate Francois Beauchemin and turned over the puck in his own zone, Doan blasted a slap shot past goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere - who had replaced Ilya Bryzgalov late in the second period - with just 31 seconds left in overtime.

"It was a fortunate bounce off a skate. In the right spot at the right time," Doan said. "It found a hole. Those haven't been going in too much for me, so it's nice to get one."

"Beauchemin and I collided into each other," Perry said. "I had the puck and it rolled off my stick right to Doan, and he shot it. It's a tough bounce."

Giguere was not about to fault his teammates for the miscue.

"It was just a turnover and part of the game," Giguere said. "There's not much we can do about that."

It was Doan's third goal of the season and his first game-winner.

"It was a game where as soon as you scored, they scored right back at you and then when they scored, we scored," Mueller said. "We just had to push to the end, and Doaner made a great play in overtime."

Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle echoed those thoughts.

"It was one of those games where it seemed the last shot was going to win," Carlyle said. "They got the last shot and we made a mistake in turning over the puck in overtime."

Mueller, who had just one goal entering the contest, opened the scoring at 8:51 of the first period. Alone in front, he took a pass by defenseman Keith Ballard from above the left faceoff circle and beat Bryzgalov to the glove side.

The 19-year-old Mueller's second goal of the night was one of three in a row for the Coyotes in the second period, turning a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead.

As an Anaheim penalty was expiring, Mueller took a pass from Doan in the right circle and squeezed the puck past Bryzgalov on the short side.

Reinprecht scored a power-play goal at 15:45, redirecting blue-liner Ed Jovanovski's slap shot into the net. Radim Vrbata tallied 26 seconds later to chase Bryzgalov, firing a backhander from in front of the net off a pass from Mike York.

Anaheim stormed right back as defenseman Mathieu Schneider fired a slap shot through traffic and past netminder Alex Auld during a man advantage with 77 seconds remaining in the session to cut the deficit to 4-3.

The Ducks tied the game early in the third on a goal by Drew Miller. A slap shot by Schneider bounced off the end boards and slid under Auld before Miller was able to poke it in during the ensuing scramble at 1:38.

Mueller completed his hat trick by squeezing the puck between Giguere's pads after a scramble in front of the net to put the Coyotes ahead, 5-4, at 4:15 of the third.

"I think it surprised both of us," Mueller said. "It just popped out of the center of the crease. I think it ricocheted three or four times off his pads. It's one of those goals. It's not pretty, but I'll take it."

Regarding the hat trick, Mueller found it more satisfying because of the victory.

"It's very special," he said. "It's great to end it with a win. It was a great night for me and the team. It is an unbelievable feeling. The guys in the room made it happen, so I give them credit for sticking with me and getting me pucks with silver platters underneath them."

Doan was left wondering when he would accomplish the feat.

"I've played 800 games and I haven't got one, and (Mueller) gets one in his 10th or 11th (game)," Doan said. "He's always in the right spot at the right time."

Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky, who knows a thing or two about scoring goals, was proud of Mueller's accomplishment.

"It was big for him to score those three goals," Gretzky said. "Peter is a good kid and has a really good work ethic. ... We had a 19-year-old kid get three goals. That's pretty special for him."

Anaheim tied it again as Perry beat Auld from the right circle just 83 seconds later.

Auld turned aside 22 shots in improving to 3-4-0.

"It wasn't pretty from a goalie's standpoint," Auld said. "You're back there without a lot of action, and then there's a lot of traffic and chances in front of you. But the win was huge for us. Stats don't matter when you win."

The game was more enjoyable from a shooter's standpoint, according to Doan.

"It's a fun game to win as a team because it gives you confidence that you're in every game," Doan said. "You can respond when it kind of looks a little down, and we were able to tonight."

Trailing, 1-0, Anaheim tied the game on a power-play goal by Chris Kunitz with 9:37 left in the opening period. It was Kunitz's sixth tally of the season.

The power-play goal was just Anaheim 's third in its last seven games. The Ducks entered the game 28th in the NHL with the man advantage.

Anaheim 's penalty-killers came up big later in the period, keeping Phoenix off the board when it had a two-man advantage for 1:43.

The Ducks made it 2-1 at 4:10 of the middle session on Todd Marchant's first goal of the season. Defenseman Chris Pronger took a shot from the blue line as a power play was ending and Schneider tipped the puck, which ricocheted off Marchant's skate and into the net.

It was Marchant's first goal since December 8, 2006, a span of 39 games.

The loss was the third in a row and seventh in nine contests for Anaheim.

"I think tonight, there were some positives," Giguere said. "Finally, the power play came out of its funk. We scored five goals. That should be enough to win the game. We're just going have to play better defensively next game.

"The bottom line is, we can't beat ourselves up. We were down, 4-2, and we managed to get a point tonight."