Bobby Ryan took his first turn at center this preseason, and Emerson Etem and Cam Fowler made their debuts against NHL competition — which might be the main reasons for the 12,382 in attendance at Honda Center to hold on to their ticket stubs from this night.
Ryan scored the Ducks’ lone goal midway through the second period, giving Fowler his first assist on an NHL scoresheet. Phoenix dominated otherwise, outshooting the Ducks 40-21 and killing off eight of nine power plays. Former Duck Andrew Ebbett, Kyle Turris, Brett MacLean and Viktor Tikhonov did the damage for the Coyotes, with Curtis McElhinney (22 shots/20 saves) and J.P. Levasseur (20 shots/18 saves) splitting the bill evenly.
Ryan won just one of his first 8 faceoffs and finished 8 for 20 in the circle. A Ducks power play that had just three days to coalesce didn’t fare much better than a penalty kill that allowed two goals in five man-advantage shifts for the Coyotes.
The Sharks invade Honda Center tomorrow night. The San Mercury News reports that Antero Niittymaki is likely to start between the pipes. No word from this end on who Randy Carlyle will trot out.
