Marek Langhamer helps Coyotes hang on in NHL debut

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Marek Langhamer made seven saves in his NHL debut. It was the final one he's sure to remember.
Langhamer got his left pad on Anaheim Ducks defenseman Sami Vatanen's shot with one second remaining to preserve a 3-2 win for the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on Monday.
"The puck dropped right in front of me and (Anaheim forward) Corey Perry made a great play to put it backdoor, and I was just trying to rush to the back post," said Langhamer, who has spent time in the ECHL and American Hockey League this season. "I got there and was fortunate enough to make the save."

WATCH: All Ducks vs. Coyotes highlights
Christian Dvorak, Jakob Chychrun and Radim Vrbata scored in the first period for the Coyotes (21-30-7), who are 8-4-1 in their past 13 games. Starter Mike Smith made 27 saves before leaving under concussion protocol 4:29 into the third period.
Smith, who earned his 16th win, is fine, Arizona coach Dave Tippett said.
"He got bumped (by Anaheim forward Jakob Silfverberg a few minutes earlier), and our trainer said the concussion spotter said Mike had to come out," Tippett said. "Mike didn't want to come out, but that's what was going to be done. Marek jumped in there for the first time and did a very good job."
Ryan Getzlaf scored twice for the Ducks (31-20-10), who have lost six of their past nine games (3-5-1). Jonathan Bernier allowed three goals on six shots before being replaced by John Gibson at the start of the second period.
Gibson, who made 24 saves in a 1-0 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday, had 14 saves in the relief appearance.
The Coyotes, who were outscored 11-3 in losing the first three games against the Ducks this season (0-2-1), scored on three of their first five shots to take a 3-0 lead into the first intermission.
"They were playing a back-to-back and we wanted to make sure to try and jump on them early," said Dvorak, who has scored six of his 10 goals in the past nine games. "We didn't play well (in a 4-1 loss against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday) and we wanted to make sure we put a good effort in tonight."
Dvorak beat Bernier with a backhand on the rush on Arizona's first shot to make it 1-0 at 2:02, and Chychrun gave the Coyotes a 2-0 lead when he scored at 4:46.

Vrbata made it 3-0 at 14:50 when his pass intended for Martin Hanzal went in off Vatanen's skate.
"You hate to [pull Bernier] in that situation because he's worked hard and been a true professional," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. "Their first two goals, both times our player got beat up the ice, and the next one goes off our defenseman. Looks bad on him, but I think you have to blame this one on his teammates."
The Ducks controlled the second period and made it 3-1 when Getzlaf deflected Josh Manson's wobbly shot past Smith at 12:26.
With Gibson pulled for the extra attacker, Getzlaf scored his 11th goal on a slap shot through traffic with 26.8 seconds left to make it 3-2.

Goal of the game

After Brendan Perlini backhanded the puck from the left-wing boards to Shane Doan skating through the middle of the neutral zone, Doan hit Dvorak in stride at the top of the circles, and the rookie cut across the slot and backhanded a shot between Bernier's pads.

Save of the game

After Langhamer stopped Nick Ritchie's wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle, Perry played the rebound across the top of the crease to Vatanen, who was skating in from the right point, but Langhamer threw out his left pad to make the save just before time expired.

Unsung performance of the game

Coyotes forward Tobias Rieder had four shots on goal and two blocked shots. He also played 1:58 with Arizona shorthanded to help kill two Anaheim power plays.

Highlight of the game

Chychrun hustled up the ice to create a 3-on-2 rush, took a pretty cross-ice pass from Ryan White and sent it past Bernier.

They said it

"It seemed like we were kind of in lull and they skated us into the ground. We weren't moving our feet and they capitalized." -- Ducks defenseman Josh Manson on allowing three goals in the first period
"He's a real calm kid. He's got a really solid demeanor about him. I was looking at him when I heard Mike [Smith] might have to come out, and I said, 'Marek, you might want to stretch or do something out there.' He said, 'No, I want to play.'" -- Coyotes coach Dave Tippett on sending in backup goalie Marek Langhamer to make his NHL debut with 15:31 remaining

Need to know

Doan played in his 1,524th NHL game, tying him with Brendan Shanahan for 15th in League history. ... Anaheim is 2-for-28 on the power play in its past 11 games.

What's next

Ducks: Host the Boston Bruins on Wednesday (10:30 p.m. ET; SN, SN1, PRIME, NESN, NHL.TV)
Coyotes: At the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday (8:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CSN-CH, NHL.TV)