Penner’s late goal shocks Coyotes

It appeared as though things were heading for overtime, but Dustin Penner got a goal past Ilya Bryzgalov with 21 seconds remaining in the third period to give his struggling Oilers a 4-3 road victory over the Coyotes. The win was the first on the road for Edmonton since Jan. 13 and only their second since Dec. 2. Phoenix has now lost four straight at home.

Things got off to a good start for Phoenix. Scottie Upshall scored on a power play for his 13th goal just five minutes into the game. Kyle Turris scored nearly two minutes into the second period to give Phoenix a two-goal advantage. The goal for Turris was his eighth of the season.

It was all Edmonton from that point on though because of several defensive lapses from Phoenix. During the second and third period, the Oilers would outshoot the Yotes 26-18. Jean-Francois Jacques scored six minutes after Turris goal to pull his team within one. The Oilers didn’t score the rest of the period, but they did have their fair of chances with how many shots they put on Bryzgalov.

Just four minutes into the third period, Edmonton would take the lead. Taylor Hall scored on the power play just 2:56 in for his 16th goal of the season. It was only the second extra man advantage goal since Dec. 25 for the team from Canada. Nearly a minute later, Edmonton would take the lead on a Linus Omark goal. It was only his third goal of the season. The lead for Edmonton was short-lived after Upshall would tie things up for his second netter on the night before the late Penner goal would give his team the win.

With how many defensive problems that Phoenix had tonight, you have to chalk this game up as one where they simply looked past Edmonton. The Oilers have been struggling mightily, especially on the road, so maybe Phoenix figured that they could just go out there and simply win. That doesn’t happen in this league and any team can beat you on any given night. Lets just hope this doesn’t come to bite them in the butt at the end of the year.

The Desert dogs will have one more game before the break when they face the Avalanche tomorrow night in Denver. The puck will drop at 7 p.m. Phoenix time.