Anaheim was 12-15-5 at the Christmas break. The Ducks are 24-4-2 since and will play against Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center on Saturday with first place in the Pacific Division on the line. Each team has 80 points, though the Kings have three more regulation/overtime victories.
"I'm proud of the group from where we've come to where we are now," said center Ryan Kesler, who assisted on goals by Manson and defenseman Cam Fowler in the second period. "We all believed in this room and we stuck together.
"We could have easily folded up the season and said we'll get them next year. But we didn't. We came back from a deep hole, hovered around .500 for a while and finally broke through."
Goalie Frederik Andersen made 27 saves in the Ducks' fifth consecutive road win. And the struggles of the first three months are a distant memory.
"We were not getting scored on a lot, but we couldn't score a goal whether we wanted to or not," Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said. "We had to learn how to say 'We might have to win every game 1-0,' and once we started enjoying that and think that was pretty good, we started scoring.
"Our power play [during the winning streak] has been ridiculous, and it makes scoring a little easier."
The Ducks scored five times Thursday without their captain, center Ryan Getzlaf, who was a late scratch with a lower-body injury. They hope he'll be able to play against the Kings.
Anthony Duclair scored his sixth goal in five games against Anaheim for the Coyotes (27-31-6), who have lost a season-high seven in a row and fell 10 points off the Western Conference playoff pace.
Rookie goalie Niklas Treutle allowed five goals on 16 shots in his first NHL start before being replaced by Louis Domingue after two periods.
"I'll take the responsibility," Arizona coach Dave Tippett. "We put a young player in a position he's not ready for. We had no choice. Louis has played 11 straight [games] and he looked tired on the road. That's where we are. We have to get Louis a break."