'Yotes Notes: Duclair Notches 2nd NHL Hat Trick

OTTAWA --Anthony Duclair provided all of the offense the Coyotes needed on Saturday afternoon for a 3-2 overtime victory over the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre.
Duclair notched his second NHL hat trick, including the game-winning goal at 1:23 of the extra session. His performance turned a lot of heads considering he'd been a healthy scratch six times over the past three weeks.
"It's always tough to be in and out of the lineup," Duclair said. "At the same time, it starts in practice. It starts with preparation. You want to do your best every night to help the team win. You've got to keep a positive attitude. That's the main key. Every time you get an opportunity you want to take it and run away with it."

Duclair did just that. His first two goals were breakaway goals bound for NHL highlight reels.

Jason Demers set up Duclair's first goal at 19:19 of the first period with a slick stretch pass that Duclair retrieved and converted into a goal past Mike Condon after a nifty deke. Later, in the third period, Alex Goligoski sent a lengthy pass to Duclair to set up his second goal, although Condon failed miserably to poke the puck away from Duclair and left Ottawa's net wide open for an easy tuck of the puck by Duclair.
Duclair's overtime goal trickled ever so slowly through Condon's five hole and across the goal line. In fact, Duclair had turned away from the play before realizing the puck had crossed.

With his three goals on Saturday, Duclair upped his season total to six goals in 16 games. Last season he scored just five in 58 games.
"Even though he hasn't been playing a lot, he's been working individually, (spending) extra time on the ice," goalie Antti Raanta said. "He's a great guy to be around. He's been supportive even though he hasn't been playing ... He has the skill. He can score goals. He can make the plays. Today we saw three of those he scored. I'm so happy for him."
Head Coach Rick Tocchet had kept Duclair out of the lineup recently because he wanted him to be more consistent and more impactful.
"'Duke' was good tonight," Tocchet said. "When he's sticky on pucks and he works, he can be a good player for us. He's been upset not playing, but he wants to learn and he wants to play and he's been working hard in practice. If he continues to do that he can be a good player for us."

• After beating Montreal on Thursday and Ottawa on Saturday, the Coyotes have earned back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
"We had a good meeting after (losing at) Winnipeg," Tocchet said. "It wasn't a pretty meeting, but we had some guys who said some really good stuff for us. I think it kind of just helped us refocus on what's important and how to win in this league. It's obviously helped the last couple of games."
• Raanta made 30 saves and was perfect for the final 39:35 of the game. He improved his record with Arizona to 3-5-2.

• The Coyotes went 5 for 5 on penalty kills, including two early in the third period, and one that started late in the third period and extended into overtime. Arizona is 14 for 14 on penalty kills in the past four road games.
"I think everyone who is on the PK is on the same page and working hard," Raanta said. "... There's lots of sacrifices; just putting your body on the line and just working hard. That's the key to PK."
• Oliver Ekman-Larsson played 26:15, took three shots on goal, delivered five hits and blocked three shots. He also chipped in two assists. His first assist, on Duclair's second goal, moved him past Phil Housley and into sole possession of seventh place on the franchise's list for points by a defenseman. Ekman-Larsson has 261, 38 behind sixth-place Dave Ellett.
• Derek Stepan skated 19:46, took six shots on goal, notched an assist and won 10 of 15 face-offs.
• Christian Dvorak played 17:25, delivered four hits and won 11 of 21 face-offs in his 100th NHL game.

• Duclair is the first Coyotes player to score a hat trick that included an overtime goal since Antoine Vermette did so on Dec. 21, 2013, also against the Senators at Canadian Tire Centre. He is also the first Coyotes player to score all three goals in a win since Keith Tkachuk's hat trick on Dec. 1, 1997.
• The Coyotes played minus defenseman/alternate captain Niklas Hjalmarsson for a 10th consecutive game. Hjalmarsson has been practicing with teammates and could return to the lineup on Monday vs. Toronto in the road trip finale.
• "Jeopardy" host Alex Trebek attended the game. Trebek was in Ottawa on Saturday to receive the Order of Canada.