Led by a hat trick performance from forward Kyle Olson, the Ducks went undefeated in the 2018 Vegas Rookie Faceoff following an 8-4 victory over the Arizona Coyotes at City National Arena on Tuesday.
Olson's three-goal game put a bow on the tournament for Anaheim, which scored a whopping 21 times in victories over the LA Kings on Saturday (8-3), Colorado Avalanche on Sunday (5-2) and the Coyotes earlier today. Dating back to 2016, the Ducks have gone 7-0 in rookie tournament games.
Recap: Olson's Hat Trick Leads Ducks Rookies to 8-4 Win vs. Coyotes
Max Comtois scored twice, while Alex Dostie, Julius Nattinen and Sam Steel also scored today for the Ducks. Roman Durny put together a strong performance in net, stopping 44 of 48 shots.
Jeremy McKenna had a two-goal game, while Brayden Burke and Tyler Steenbergen also scored for the Coyotes, who fell to 1-2 in the tournament. David Tendeck went the distance in goal, making 23 saves.
Much like they've done throughout the tournament, the Ducks took care of business on the power play. This time it came early in the first period when the trio of Comtois, Steel and Troy Terry used quick puck movement to get the Ducks on the board. It marked the third goal of the tournament for Comtois, who has scored in all three games.
Dostie made it 2-0 minutes later when he raced down the ice on a breakaway. After blocking a point shot, the fourth-round pick from the 2016 draft used his speed to find separation before burying a shot through the five hole. The 21-year-old forward spent the majority of last season with the AHL San Diego Gulls (41 games), but also appeared in five contests with the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL.
Anaheim quickly made it a 3-0 score when Olson got a tip on Simon Benoit's point shot with five minutes remaining in the first period. Selected in the fourth round (122nd overall) of the 2017 NHL Draft, Olson earned 18 points (4g/14a) in 36 games with Tri-City (WHL) last season.
The Ducks came out of the gates flying to begin the second period, pushing their lead to 4-0 when Olson buried a loose puck in the crease for his second goal of the game.
McKenna got the Coyotes on the board with a wrist shot that went top shelf on an odd-man rush. McKenna, a Coyotes camp invite, led the QMJHL Moncton Wildcats in scoring last season with 77 points (36g/41a) in 68 games.
Anaheim's lethal power play delivered again to make it 5-1, the goal coming from Nattinen off another impressive sequence with the man advantage. Nattinen also had a goal in Anaheim's victory over the Avs on Sunday.
Olson completed the hat trick by finishing off a crisp pass from Josh Mahura to give the Ducks a 6-1 lead with seven minutes remaining in the middle frame.
Burke got one back for the Coyotes with 5.7 seconds remaining in the second period to make it a 6-2 score.
McKenna scored his second goal of the game when he followed up a rebound chance with a nifty wrist shot that cut the deficit to 6-3.
Riding a wave of momentum, the Coyotes scored again on goal from Steenbergen at the doorstep with 14:40 left on the clock.
Anaheim's top line got the Ducks back on the board when Steel stopped up at the left faceoff dot and went top shelf to make it 7-4.
Comtois scored into an empty net with under a minute remaining for his second goal of the game (and fourth goal of the tournament), giving the Ducks an 8-4 lead.
Anaheim line combinations
Comtois-Steel-Terry
Kopacka-Hults-Olson
Soy-Groulx-Sideroff
Ducharme-Nattinen-Dostie
Benoit-Larsson
Mahura-Drew
Forney-Amorosa
Durny
Eriksson Ek
Arizona line combinations
Burke-Gennaro-Looke
Kirk-Schnarr-Klima
Howdeshell-Jenik-Steenbergen
Michnac-Cyr-McKenna
Dineen-Smereck
Hoefenmayer-Gross
Bahl-Plouffe
Tendeck
Madsen
