Recap: Ducks End Coyotes' Winning Streak at Six Games

GLENDALE --The Coyotes, who've been racing up the Western Conference standings lately, hit a speed bump on Tuesday night at Gila River Arena.

Jakob Silfverberg notched a goal and an assist, and Ryan Miller made 22 saves to lead the Anaheim Ducks to a 3-1 victory, which ended Arizona's winning streak at six games.
"We're not going to win them all," Head Coach Rick Tocchet said. "We like what's been going on around here, but we didn't get anything from some guys we need to start to play. If we're going to go anywhere, we need these guys to go ... I've got to figure out a way to get some guys going. That's number one on my list."

Lawson Crouse scored Arizona's lone goal with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle at 18:32 of the first period. Crouse has produced three goals and five points over his past six games.
Tied 1-1, the Coyotes, who rank second in the NHL in penalty killing, allowed Anaheim to score two power-play goals in the third period. A late empty-net goal scored by the Ducks was overturned after the Coyotes challenged it citing off-side.

• With the loss, Arizona dropped to three points behind Minnesota for the second wildcard spot in the Western Conference standings.
"We're a couple points out now," Crouse said. "Every game's important. We can't take shifts off, we can't take games off. We need everyone in this locker room."
• Arizona went 0 for 5 on power plays, including a five-on-three segment that lasted 1:54 in the first period. They managed five shots on goal during that stretch, but Miller stopped them all.
"We had a couple of good looks," Tocchet said. "I didn't like how we had 30 seconds still left and we started throwing pucks, that's when we started to panic. Early on in the five-on-three we hit the goal post and we had a couple of really good chances up front, and then we got a little bit away from what we do. We were sluggish."
• Jason Demers skated 14:08 and delivered three hits in his first game since suffering a knee injury on Nov. 15.
"It's an amazing feeling," Demers said of ending a 47-game absence. "It's nice to compete again and be with the guys ... I felt great, (but) obviously you want a different decision. It's a tough situation kind of coming in at this point. I just wanted to play simple hockey and play strong defensively. I thought I didn't give up too much and it was nice playing with (Kevin Connauton). I thought we didn't give up much defensively."

As for the game itself, Demers felt the Coyotes "were a little bit too soft tonight."
"(Miller) made some big saves at certain points of the game, which were huge," Demers said. "I wish we'd put more shots on him and made him work harder, but we had our chances ... It's hard when you're losing special teams battles, but you can't dwell on the games at this point of the season. We've got to turn the page."

• Niklas Hjalmarsson blocked a game-high six shots to bring his season total to 148, which ranks second in the NHL. New Jersey's Andy Greene has blocked 173 shots.