What Does it Take to Hold onto a F*#@ING Lead?!?!

Final Score: Ducks 4, Coyotes 5 (SO)

First Period Recap: There was a scary moment early on when Daniel Winnik was ridden into the boards by Michael Stone. Winnik fell awkwardly and had his head bounced off the boards by the knee of Stone. Completely fluke play and he didn't miss more than a shift or two, but not pleasant to watch at all.

The whoe period was pretty sloppy, with turnovers galore, but it wasn't quite enough to break the game open like Saturday, yet. Part of it was due to the questionable ice quality, which lead to the Coyotes' best chance of the period. Sheldon Souray couldn't hold the puck in on the point creating a two on one for Phoenix and Souray got back to stifle a sure goal off a terrible rebound.

Other than that one rebound, Hiller was great in the first, absorbing pretty much all shots. It reminded me of Brian Hayward's favorite phrase back in the days of J.S. Giguere "You can really tell when he's on his game because the puck just sticks to him." Spoiler Alert: That wouldn't last.

The Ducks did come out of the period with a 1-0 lead as Matt Beleskey scored from the slot off of a perfect pass from Ryan Getzlaf about halfway through the period. Is it just me or is this becoming a regular thing when Bels is up with the twins?

Second Period Recap: If you've been watching the Ducks lately, you know that leads don't last very long and this game was a perfect example of that. Phoenix tied it right back up in the first minute on an Antoine Vermette goal.

The Ducks then had to kill two straight penalties. During the first kill, Getzlaf almost forced Mike Smith to turn the puck over, but was foiled by his superior puck handling skills. Right after Ben Lovejoy was released, Hiller then showed off his not-so-spectacular puck handling skills and took a delay of game (puck over the glass) penalty. Keith Yandle scored on the ensuing power play.

The rest of the period belonged to the Coyotes. With the lead and the momentum, everything was playing right into their game. Corey Perry had one Grade A chance and was robbed by Smith, but other than that it was a perfect period of Dave Tippett coached hockey.

Beleskey took a high sticking penalty with a minute and a half left, and it looked like the game was about over, then Getzlaf broke the game loose with a shorthanded goal to tie it up with only seven seconds left in the period. The Ducks stood up at the blue line, Perry intercepted a pass and sent Getzy off on a breakaway. He made a perfect shot, but Smith would definitely want it back.

Third Period Recap: To start the period I was having flashbacks to last Monday when the Kings took the game over with a late second period goal and taking a lead early in the third. only this time it looked like it would go in the Ducks' favor. The Ducks got their first power play of the game and again it was Getzlaf who made the play, with a perfect shot/pass off the tape of Perry's stick and into the top corner.

Everything was looking up for the Ducks, for 11 seconds, which is exactly how much time it took the Coyotes to tie it back up. Lovejoy was caught out of position, giving Phoenix a two on one right from the faceoff and Shane Doan went five hole on Hiller. I don't care if it's a 5-on-0 rush, Hiller has to make that save.

Bobby Ryan, who was stoned by Smith several times on Saturday night finally beat his nemesis as Andrew Cogliano (who else) forced a turnover on the boards, got it to Nick Bonino who fed Bobby in the slot for the one-timer.

Again the lead wouldn't last long, Getzlaf almost extended it to two immediately but only 1:18 after Bobby's goal, Stone tipped a Kyle Chipchura point shot through Hiller. One or two Getzlaf blocked shots later we were on to OT.

Overtime: The Coyotes dominated overtime, out shooting the Ducks 5-0, and their best chance came as Francois Beauchemin narrowly escaped giving up a penalty shot and Hiller had to make an acrobatic twisting save on the follow up from Phoenix.

Shootout:

Mikkel Boedker: Save

Teemu Selanne: Save

Steve Sullivan: Goal (high glove, opposite of his shootout goal against Fasth on Saturday)

Ryan Getzlaf: Goal (obviously, Beast Mode)

Antoine Vermette: Save

Corey Perry: Goal Post! With a chance to win it.

Shane Doan: Save

Nick Bonino: Save

Oliver Ekman-Larsson: Goal

Bobby Ryan: Save, Coyotes win again :(

**********

The Good: There aren't enough words in the English language to describe how great Ryan Getzlaf was in this game.

The Bad: The Ducks can't hold on to a lead to save their lives right now.

The Ugly: Besides those black Coyotes jerseys? The third Phoenix goal was an abomination on every front for the Ducks.

**********

Most Valuable Duck: Ryan Getzlaf - OK, I'm cheating here, the Ducks lost and we'll get to the Iceholes, but it cannot be overstated how great Getzy was in this game, with a goal, two beautiful assists and so much more defensively.

2nd Icehole: Ben Lovejoy - I don't hold either of his penalties against him, but he completely blew it on that Doan goal.

1st Icehole: Jonas Hiller - I'm totally beating a dead horse about that Doan goal, but it was so freaking terrible, I can't get over it. The Ducks should have put the game away after Perry gave them the lead, and it all went to hell 11 seconds later. It doesn't even really matter to me that they got the lead back and blew it again. It never should have come to that.

Next Game: Phoenix @ Ducks, Wednesday, Mar. 6 at 7:00pm PT