By Dave Vest | Anthony Perez
GLENDALE – Led by Jonas Hiller’s 31 saves, the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Coyotes, 3-1, Tuesday night at Jobing.com Arena.

The Coyotes (16-12-7), playing their first home game since Dec. 11, created multiple scoring chances in the opening moments of the game, but it was Anaheim that took a 1-0 lead when Luca Sbisa’s slap shot through traffic beat Coyotes goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov at the 4:38 mark of the first period.

Less than two minutes later, Coyotes enforcer Paul Bissonnette dropped the gloves with Ducks enforcer George Parros to try to swing the momentum back to Phoenix’s side. It didn’t work as the Ducks took a 2-0 lead at 8:16.

Joffrey Lupul fired a wrist shot from the left of Bryzgalov that appeared to go under the crossbar for his fourth goal of the season. The ruling on the ice was that there was no goal. Officials reviewed the play and the call was overturned.

Corey Perry capped a three-goal first period for Anaheim with just under five minutes left with his 20th goal of the season (see KEY MOMENT below).

In the second period, Anaheim’s Matt Beleskey was sent to the penalty box for roughing at the 13:58 mark and Andy Sutton was called for tripping four seconds later. The Coyotes were able to cut the Anaheim lead to 3-1 when Shane Doan’s wrist shot beat Hiller for his fifth goal of the season.

Photo by Norm Hall.

The Coyotes’ final chance to close the gap came at the midway point of the third period when Todd Marchant was charged with a delay-of-game penalty and Sutton was called for cross checking moments later. Phoenix once again had a two-man advantage but this time was unable to cut into the lead.

“It’s tough to come back from that many goals that early, but we had a couple chances early on before they scored,” Coyotes defenseman Ed Jovanovski said.

Bryzgalov stopped 21 of the 24 shots he faced in his first game back after missing five games due to an upper-body injury.

The Ducks (19-17-4) lost captain Ryan Getzlaf in the second period after he was hit in the face by a shot by Doan. Getzlaf left the game and did not return, but Anaheim Head Coach Randy Carlyle said the injury doesn't appear serious.

Trailing 2-0, Coyotes defenseman Sami Lepisto turned the puck over to Anaheim's Corey Perry a few strides shy of the top of the Phoenix crease, and Perry quickly wristed a shot past Coyotes goalie Ilya Bryzgalov at 15:20 of the first period.

"We did the same thing with (Evgeni) Malkin and (Sidney) Crosby," Coyotes Head Coach Dave Tippett said, in reference to the Coyotes' 6-1 loss to Pittsburgh on Dec. 20. "It's what's been happening for us right now."

► Click here to watch the KEY MOMENT.

Bissonnette

• Coyotes enforcer Paul Bissonnette hosted 100 guests from the CASS Family Homeless Shelter - Vista Colina. Bissonnette's guests, who were seated in Section 120, were provided food vouchers and an autographed Coyotes hat. After the game, Bissonnette, who delivered three hits and fought Anaheim's George Parros in just 2:55 of ice time, shook hands with many of the guests before they left. Check back to phoenixcoyotes.com on Wednesday to watch a video that chronicles this event.

• The Coyotes again were dominant in the faceoff circles, winning 64 percent of the draws. Martin Hanzal (12 of 17) and Eric Belanger (10 of 14) led the way.

• Winger Radim Vrbata, who suffered a lower-body injury during Thursday's game at San Jose, missed his second straight game. Meanwhile, forward Taylor Pyatt missed his third game since being placed on the injured reserve list with an upper-body injury suffered vs. Pittsburgh on Dec. 20. Pyatt, who took part in the morning skate, hopes to come off the IR list soon.

• The Coyotes allowed three first-period goals on Tuesday night. In the first 34 games of the season they allowed only 20 - the lowest total in the NHL.

• The Coyotes scratched David Schlemko, Radim Vrbata (lower-body injury) and Nolan Yonkman.

• The Coyotes' next game is Wednesday vs. Los Angeles at Jobing.com Arena. The puck drops at 7 p.m. (Arizona time). The game can be seen on Fox Sports Arizona Plus and can be heard on XTRA Sports 910 (AM).

"I think the recipe for scoring goals is working hard and getting pucks to the net. It’s not like we’re not trying to do that. (We) just have to give it that little extra, bear down, fight for those pucks down by the net and work and hack and something good is going to happen." "I think we have only scored one goal in each of the last three or four games. That’s not going to win you games. That’s not going to give you a chance. We have to be better than that." "I’m sure it probably wasn’t our best start, but we were able to brush it off and found a way to score and at the end everyone was playing well and sacrificing for the team." Jovanovski Doan Hiller