Arizona Coyotes Top Oilers 4-2 In Ekman-Larsson’s Return
The Arizona Coyotes continued their points streak against Edmonton with a 4-2 victory on Tuesday night.
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The Arizona Coyotes welcomed Connor McDavid to the desert for the first time on Tuesday night.
They sent the star rookie back out of town with a loss and extended their point streak against Edmonton to 23 straight games.
McDavid did contribute two assists on the night and certainly befuddled the Coyotes’ defenders at times, but it wasn’t enough to outscore an Arizona Coyotes offense that had been dormant in it’s past two outings.
Unlike the norm, this time the Yotes struck first.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, newly returned to the lineup after missing six games, got a shot in on Cam Talbot and the Oilers’ goalie gave up a juicy rebound which Alex Tanguay slammed home. 1-0 Coyotes.
The Oilers got it right back when Jordan Eberle cleaned up a puck in Mike Smith‘s crease and put it home. The score remained tied 1-1 heading into the first intermission.
Martin Hanzal and Tobias Rieder scored in the second period for the Coyotes to give the home team a 3-1 lead, however Mark Letestu took a shot from that somehow found it’s way past Smith and into the net.
The third period was a wild, scoreless affair despite several great chances on both sides. With the Oilers pressing hard and Talbot on the bench, Max Domi scored an empty-netter to seal the victory.
Arizona Coyotes Player of the Game
Oliver Ekman-Larsson returned to the lineup and the Coyotes offense worked again. That’s about the gist of it. The team is not the same without OEL eating up a good chunk of minutes every night.
The power play was gutted without #23 running the show, and all three attempts on Tuesday night looked much better. Beyond that, it was OEL’s shot which set up Tanguay’s goal to give the Yotes the early lead. Welcome back!
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The View From The 200 Level
With OEL back, the Coyotes looked much more threatening offensively.
Outside of the final eight to ten minutes of the third period, they outplayed and generally outfoxed the Edmonton Oilers. It was only through some key saves by Talbot and a couple of bad bounces that the Yotes didn’t blow this one open earlier.
If there is an area of complaint in Tuesday night’s contest, it has to be with the team’s play in it’s own end.
While the breakouts were pretty crisp compared to the norm, the amount of turnovers and giveaways seemed abnormally high. There were a few moments in the game where Mike Smith was completely under siege and the birthday boy bailed out his team.
Still, good things happened. Goals were scored. Domi was rewarded for his recent hard work.
Next: Coyotes Defensive Outlook: Exploring The Current Roster And Possible Moves For 2016-17
Zbynek Michalek also played his 600th career game for the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night. That’s pretty cool.
The Coyotes play the Dallas Stars on Thursday night at Gila River Arena.