"Guys had a lot more poise [than yesterday's game]," head coach Roy Sommer said. "Overall, it was a loss and we don't like to have a lot of them, but if you play like that, you'll win more than you lose."
Netminders and training camp invites Francesco Lapenna and Brayden Peters split time in the cage for Anaheim. Peters stopped all 19 shots he faced while Lapenna denied 14-of-16 Arizona attempts.
Connor Geekie, Arizona's second first-round pick this summer, and Ben McCartney, wearing the C for the Coyotes this weekend, powered the club's offense and comeback, each recording a goal and an assist.
The loss is Anaheim's first regulation setback at the annual rookie tournament since 2015. The Ducks had entered play Saturday with an 11-0-3 mark since.
Tracey gave the Ducks the lead in the final moments of the first period, cutting towards the slot with a fake shot to hold the Coyotes defense before lifting a bid over goaltender David Tedneck's glove. The goal gave Anaheim power-play tallies on back-to-back nights.
"We were on the power play there and McTavish fed me across the ice and I didn't take my shot, so I thought the next one I would come in and shoot," Tracey said. "I just came in and loaded my stick up. The d-man went down and I got a good shot off. Pavel was in front with a nice screen and the goalie couldn't really see it."
A chippy back-and-forth game reached a boiling point early in the second period, when Coyotes defenseman Logan Downhaniuk crushed Jacob Perreault with a neutral zone hit. The Ducks immediately came to their teammate's defense, most notably Nathan Gaucher, who quickly handled Downhaniuk in a spirited scrap.
"When you see a guy do that, you know he has a lot of heart," Tracey said of Gaucher. "I've got a lot of respect for Nathan for doing that and so does the rest of the room."
"It's a sign of a true teammate," Mason McTavish added. "Everyone in the locker room loved it and I'm sure the staff loved it, too. That's what you want your teammate to do for you and I'm sure if he got hit too, everyone would have done the same for him. That's the culture we're trying to build here and it was executed well there."
Anaheim's new-found momentum would be short-lived though, as the Coyotes tied it just past the midway point of the period when Geekie beat Lapenna from the right faceoff circle after a spectacular save by Dereck Baribeau on the opposite end of the ice.
That 1-1 score would hold deep into the third, despite a bevy of power-play chances on both sides, before Arizona finally broke through on the man advantage with Geekie delivering a perfect shot pass that McCartney redirected by Lapenna from the low slot.
The Ducks would push for the tying goal but the Coyotes played stingy defense to protect the lead. Anaheim's best look came on a late 6-on-4 opportunity, but Perreault's wrist shot from the left circle narrowly missed the net to the far side, sealing the Coyotes' 2-1 triumph.
"We've had good starts to periods but we need to work on our finish," Tracey said. "We've lost in overtime and lost late in this one. If we just battle through that and finish until the end, we'll be good."
"These tournaments are fast and physical," McTavish said. "There's not much space, a lot of straight-line hockey...We'll look to get the win Monday."
The Ducks conclude their rookie tournament schedule Monday, taking on the Vegas Golden Knights (12:30 p.m.) at Sharks Ice.
