Coyotes Game 20 Recap: Oilers end Coyotes’ point streak at 4 games

Clayton Keller had a three-point night, but the Arizona Coyotes were unable to stop Edmonton’s offense.

Game Recap

The Arizona Coyotes point-streak is over. The Desert Dogs fell 5-3 last night to the Edmonton Oilers, ending their first win streak at two games and their first point streak at four.

Things were going well for the Coyotes to start. They had a few good looks and managed to get on the board first when Clayton Keller and Phil Kessel came in on a 2-on-1, and Keller was able to put it home.

The Coyotes had a golden opportunity to extend their lead with a power play after the goal. Still, Edmonton had the best look of the Coyotes’ first power play, which ended prematurely with a Kyle Capobianco holding call. Midway through the first, Arizona would get their second shot at a power play but fall short yet again.

Unfortunately for the Coyotes, the Edmonton Oilers have a much better power play and didn’t take long to tie things up when they got their second power play. Goaltender Scott Wedgewood looked to have the loose puck, but Connor McDavid knocked it home as the puck lay in the blue paint, and it was a tie game.

Arizona would take another penalty with 2:01 left in the first that they would kill, and the first period ended with the score tied 1-1. The Coyotes hadn’t been able to mount much of an offense, but they were still in this.

Things seemed to slow down in the second, but not in a way that favored the Coyotes. Midway through the period, Leon Draisaitl fired a bad-angle shot between Wedgewood and the post, and for the first time, the Coyotes were chasing.

The Coyotes failed to respond during the second and looked glad for the period to expire. Edmonton had played last night, but the Coyotes were the ones being outworked as play continued.

Arizona has had some solid third periods on their win streak, and they were only down 2-1, so a comeback was completely doable.

Zach Kassian complicated any comeback chances when he doubled the Oilers’ lead just under eight minutes into the period. Wedgewood had made a big save on Kassian earlier and wasn’t about to be denied again. Instead, he made some space to the side of the net and put home a pass from Draisaitl into a wide-open net, in what would also be Connor McDavid’s 400th career assist.

Not long after that, the Coyotes were caught in their own zone and gassed, forcing Jakob Chychrun to take a holding call. With Chychrun in the box for the lone penalty of the third, Draisaitl had the puck down low, walked in a bit to get a better angle, and fired. So what started as a one-goal deficit had ballooned to a three-goal lead with less than seven minutes to go in regulation.

But the Coyotes were not about to go down without a fight.

Chychrun left the box after Edmonton scored and was on the ice for the Coyotes’ next shift, where he fired a shot from the point. Travis Boyd was posted in front of the net and deflected the puck down, causing it to go through Mikko Koskinen’s legs and into the back of the net.

Less than a minute and a half later, Shayne Gostisbehere, finding himself in a prime position in the faceoff circle, picked up a pass from Clayton Keller and fired it home.

The game initially looked like it was out of control, but in the span of fewer than two minutes, the Coyotes had scored twice and looked to be clawing their way back into it.

Arizona continued to play well as the minutes ticked away, as the team pulled Scott Wedgewood for the extra attacker.

But with less than a minute left, Conor McDavid found the empty net, and any chance of a Coyotes comeback was quickly dashed. The play initially looked to be offsides, both on-ice and from the TV angle on Bally Sports Arizona+, but Toronto reviewed the call and determined it was a good goal. The seconds ticked away, and the game was over.

It was another solid performance by the Coyotes’ goaltender, who didn’t get enough support from the team in front of him. It was 49 minutes and 58 seconds between the Coyotes’ first and the second goal, almost an entire game. Arizona taking four penalties didn’t help, with Edmonton tying the game and eventually winning on power play goals.

Lines

Three Stars

1. Connor McDavid – 2 goals, 2 assists
2. Leon Draisaitl – 2 goals, 2 assists
3. Clayton Keller – 1 goal, 2 assists

Next Game

The Coyotes will be back in action this Saturday as they host the Dallas Stars.