Ninja Dubnyk: Coyotes take home 2-1 victory over Edmonton

Devan Dubnyk, Brandon Gormley breakout stars in Coyotes’ 2-1 victory over Edmonton Oilers

The Arizona Coyotes took home a 2-1 victory in regulation over their divisional rivals in Edmonton, Alberta, bringing their record to 8-9-1 and securing their spot at… well, the lower end of the Pacific Division.

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With this win, the Coyotes surpassed both the Dallas Stars and the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference standings; they now sit five points behind the San Jose Sharks with two fewer games played and only three points behind the Minnesota Wild.

The Coyotes started out yet another game clearly on the defensive; the Oilers outshot the Arizona team 15-8 in the first period alone.

As with the team’s 5-0 shutout victory over the Vancouver Canucks, though, the Coyotes executed the strong defense that they’re characterized for; despite spending the entire game down in shots against, they managed to hold their lead from the first goal on. They relied on strong blocking and big saves from backup netminder Devan Dubnyk to keep them in the game, then struck when the time was right to net an unassisted power play goal in the first period (credited to Brandon Gormley for his first career NHL goal) and a smart snap from Mikkel Boedker in the third for security. They were unable to stop every shot Taylor Hall sent their way — he netted a power-play goal of his own in the third period to make it a one goal game — but held off all the other Edmonton skaters until the final buzzer.

The resounding, uncontested star of the game, though, was netminder Devan Dubnyk. The Coyotes backup returned to his former team — who had selected him in the first round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft — to stop a massive 33 of 34 shots to take home a .971 sv% and an impressive 0.5 GAA for his past two games.

Notable Moments:

• Although defenseman Brandon Gormley was able to finish out the game, it’s clear that the blue liner got injured late in the game; coupling this with an injury to forward Rob Klinkhammer could do some interesting things to a Coyotes roster that’s finally found its rhythm. Fans shouldn’t be too worried, though — whether Gormley is out or not, it’s clear that he’s proved his worth to the franchise. Coupling this win with the shutout win on Friday, Brandon Gormley looks like he’s finally made the Arizona Coyotes roster for good.
• An injury to Rob Klinkhammer is obviously not ideal, but the Coyotes sent defenseman David Schlemko down to the Portland Pirates this weekend; that extra roster spot seems to be up for audition for Portland forward Lucas Lessio. In the instance that he gets to fill in for Klinkhammer in Tuesday’s game against the Capitals, it will be interesting to see if he can translate the two-way play scouts were so quick to praise him for into effective two-way play in the NHL.
• Although Mike Smith was a good sport about Dubnyk’s newfound success, it’s clear that the number one netminder is going to start feeling the pressure as his backup continues to bring home wins. So far, Smith has the worst win record in the NHL; Dubnyk, who has a 3-0-1 to start off the season, has one of the best. If this translates into newfound motivation for Smith, then the Coyotes could hit a hot streak strong enough to see the post-season; should it translate into a mental deterrent, the team might find itself on the brink of an identical collapse to last year’s.

Sep 22, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Coyotes center Sam Gagner (9) celebrates with right wing Shane Doan (19), defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson (23) and defenseman Brandon Gormley (33) after scoring a goal in the second period against the Los Angeles Kings at Gila River Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Keith Yandle continued to play well, but the real surprise of the night was his defensive pairing — for a player who complements Yandle’s offensive style so effectively, Connor Murphy managed to take a team-high four SOG before the game ended. In another moment of weirdness, Joe Vitale had two shots on goal and zero hits.

The Coyotes will have a night off to celebrate their win, but then it’s back to business: the team will host the Washington Capitals in the second of the two-game season series against the Metropolitan Division franchise. Then, it’s off to Dallas, where the Stars have only won one game (but the Coyotes have yet to win against the team at all this year).

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