Recap: Schmaltz's OT Goal Caps 'Character Win' Over Ducks

ANAHEIM --Nick Schmaltz one-timed a pass from Clayton Keller into Anaheim's net just 33 seconds into overtime on Saturday night to give the Coyotes a 5-4 victory over the Ducks at the Honda Center.
Schmaltz's goal punctuated a resilient performance by Arizona, which trailed 2-0, 3-1 and 4-2.

"It's a good character win," Schmaltz said. "We didn't give up when we were down. Everyone stayed positive. We got some good saves from our goaltender and then just chipped away. It was just a great team effort. Everyone chipped in. All four lines made some plays that led to a victory."

Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Christian Fischer, Nick Cousins and Jakob Chychrun also scored goals for the Coyotes, who have won three of the past four games.
Adin Hill, playing for the first time in a week, made a career-high 37 saves, including two during a five-on-three penalty kill that lasted 68 seconds in the second period.
"That's probably not the funnest win for the coaching staff, but it was great to see everyone stick with it," said Fischer, who led the Coyotes with five shots on goal. "'Hillsy' battled the whole time, the PK was great on that five-on-three, and our power play got us a goal.

The Coyotes fell behind 1-0 just 46 seconds into the game when Ondrej Kase beat Hill with a backhanded breakaway shot. Later in the period, Daniel Sprong made the score 2-0 when he scored a power-play goal.
But Ekman-Larsson matched Anaheim's power-play goal with one of his own with a one-timer from the right circle with just 16.9 seconds left in the first to give the Coyotes some momentum.
The teams then combined to score five goals in a chaotic second period that featured little defense. Trailing 4-2, Cousins and Chychrun scored within 39 seconds to tie the score.

Both clubs took nine shots on goal in the third period, but Hill and Ducks goalie John Gibson stopped them all to set up the overtime, which didn't last long.
Ekman-Larsson began the final sequence by stealing the puck from Anaheim's Adam Henrique deep in Arizona's zone and feeding it to Keller in the neutral zone. Keller then skated out to his right as Schmaltz raced up the left wing to create a two-on-one rush on Ducks defensman Hampus Lindholm. Keller held the puck just long enough to fool Gibson before sliding it across the slot Schmaltz.

"I think when you are coming down, you kind of have to freeze the goalie and make him think you are shooting," Keller said. "As soon as the d-man kind of moves his stick is when you're able to make that pass across, and 'Schmaltzy' put it in the back of the net ... It was kind of a crazy game, a little bit wild. All that matters is we got the two points."
Coyotes Head Coach Rick Tocchet agreed.
"It was a really crazy game," Tocchet said. "There was resiliency throughout the entire game which helped us be successful ... There was a couple of unfortunate things that happened to us, and I liked the response, especially by the third and fourth lines."
• Ekman-Larsson assisted on Schmaltz's goal to bring his career point total to 311. That ties Keith Yandle's record for most points by a defenseman in Coyotes history.

• Alex Galchenyuk and Conor Garland both chipped in assists to extend their point streaks to four games.
• Vinnie Hinostroza returned to the lineup after missing 10 games because a lower-body injury. He skated 13:21 and was plus-1.
• The Coyotes were assessed a penalty for delay of game after Tocchet unsuccessfully challenged that the Ducks were off-side prior to Anaheim's third goal.
• Arizona played minus leading goal scorer Brad Richardson for a second straight game. Richardson, who has notched 10 goals, has the flu.