ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - The Anaheim Ducks spent more than two periods trying to figure out how to beat Curtis Joseph. Travis Moen and Andy McDonald eventually did, and that was enough.
Moen and McDonald scored less than 1½ minutes apart in the third period while Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 24 saves as the Ducks beat Phoenix 2-1 on Wednesday night for their ninth straight home win over the Coyotes.
"Joseph played extremely well, but our guys did a good job of not panicking and not trying to do too much," McDonald said. "We stuck to what we talked about before the game.
"Sometimes, you make the mistake of straying from your game plan because you're not getting the bounces or scoring goals."
Joseph stopped the first 29 shots he faced, robbing Ryan Getzlaf twice on separate power plays in the first period. The three-time all-star was trying to make Fredrik Sjostrom's first-period goal stand up for his 50th career shutout when the Pacific Division leaders finally got on the board with 12:27 to play.
"It was really, I think, the best game he's played all season," Phoenix coach Wayne Gretzky said of Joseph, who faced 40 shots. "He's had some good ones, but he was truly remarkable tonight.
"He played his heart out, and I'm disappointed for him that we couldn't get the win."
The three-time all-star goalie stopped Moen's 15-foot backhand shot in the slot, but Moen regained possession in the right corner and skated into the circle before scoring his seventh goal of the season on a wrist shot. The goal came just 17 seconds after the Ducks killed off an interference penalty against Chris Kunitz.
"We had gone almost 50 minutes without scoring, and then to get one right after killing the penalty was huge for everybody," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. "That gave us life and momentum and we were able to carry it from that point on."
Phoenix defenceman Travis Roche received an interference penalty on a delayed call preceding Moen's goal, and the Ducks capitalized on the ensuing power play.
Defenceman Derek Morris wound up to shot the puck out of the zone, but Anaheim defenceman Francois Beauchemin got his stick in the way. Chris Pronger kept the puck alive for Anaheim and Teemu Selanne passed it into the slot, where McDonald scored his 15th goal on a shot from 25 feet out.
"I think we're going to see a lot more of this type of hockey as we get into the last 30 games because we play conference opponents, so everybody's desperate for points," Carlyle said. "And when you play desperate teams, you're going to have to earn your space on the ice and win your share of one-on-one battles within the game.
"That's going to be critical as we go forward."
Phoenix opened the scoring at 17:01 of the first with Sjostrom's first goal in 14 career games against Anaheim. Coyotes defenceman Keith Ballard passed the puck out of his zone to Sjostrom at the red line. It hopped off Sjostrom's stick and into the Ducks' zone, but Beauchemin nonchalantly skated backward after it and Sjostrom took him by surprise before swooping in on Giguere and beating him low to the stick side.
"I would consider that a brain cramp," Carlyle said with a smirk. "I haven't talked to him about it, but it's one I'm sure he won't want to remember too much about.
"But what are you going to do? It's a game of mistakes and he made a mistake, but we'll move on."
Beauchemin, playing his second game after missing the previous 11 contests with a lacerated spleen, acknowledged his mistake.
"The puck deflected off their centre's stick and I thought that (Ric) Jackman could get it before me," Beauchemin said of his defence partner. "We both looked at each other, I stopped skating and Sjostrom just skated by me and got the breakaway.
"It was just a misunderstanding on my part."
The Coyotes have lost six of their last nine games following a seven-game winning streak that was their longest in seven seasons. They haven't beaten the Ducks in Anaheim since Oct. 12, 2003, when Sean Burke made 31 saves in a 2-0 victory.
Notes: Anaheim's Scott Niedermayer, the league leader in points by a defenceman, missed his second straight game because of a stress fracture in his right foot . . . The Coyotes are 24 points behind Anaheim in the division standings with 31 games remaining. They finished no fewer than 31 points out of first place in any of the previous three seasons . . . Anaheim has won 12 of the last 13 meetings with Phoenix . . . The Ducks have nine players who have appeared in every game for them this season. The only team with more is Tampa Bay (10) . . . Anaheim C Rob Niedermayer does not have a multi-point game this season, and just two points in his last 24 contests . . . Kunitz had five goals in 31 games since betting his first career hat trick on Nov. 19 at Phoenix.