Arizona Coyotes, Mike Smith Survive Oilers To Win 2-1

The Arizona Coyotes took on Edmonton in the second part of a home-and-home with Connor McDavid’s young team.

After a thrilling overtime victory Saturday night, the Arizona Coyotes headed to Edmonton to cap off a home-and-home with the Oilers.

The first period wasn’t pretty for the Coyotes.

Thanks to penalties to Shane Doan and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, they were on their heels far more than they should have been.

A late goal by Radim Vrbata after a nice neutral zone strip by OEL allowed them to escape the period up 1-0.

In the second frame the Coyotes had two power play opportunities but failed on both.

Edmonton had the better of the period but were held scoreless by Mike Smith, leaving the game at 1-0 again after the end of two.

The third period was again all Edmonton for the first 10 minutes. Shortly afterward, Connor McDavid did what he does.

Create and score goals. Even though Mike Smith had saved 35 shots to that point, the game was tied 1-1 thanks to Milan Lucic.

Late in the third period, Jamie McGinn took a feed from Anthony Duclair and put the Arizona Coyotes up 2-1.

Desperate work by the Coyotes allowed them to survive the Oilers attack and win.

Arizona Coyotes Player of the Game

Mike Smith saved 41 of 42 shots. Is there anything else to say?

Smith absolutely carried the Yotes across the finish line in this contest. The team had no business winning, but they won because #41 turned in a vintage performance.

He’s had a few this season. Maybe he’s coming back around.

The View From The 200 Level

The Edmonton Oilers thoroughly outplayed the good guys throughout this matchup, but Vrbata got a lucky bounce and McGinn came through when it counted.

Mike Smith continues to impress with his play.

It’s fair to say the Arizona Coyotes have been blessed with some pretty good goaltending for most of this season bar a few shaky performances from Louis Domingue during Smitty’s absence, and of course the debacle that was Smith’s outing against the Canucks.

Their issues in exiting the defensive zone and entering the offensive zone continued.

It prevented them from having opportunities to capitalize on their 1-0 advantage and forced them to play on their heels for the majority of the game.

OEL did have a strong night controlling McDavid, which should be viewed as an emphatic gesture from the Swede to those who say he is offense-only.

Most importantly for the Coyotes, however – OEL and Duke finally got back on the scoreboard. They were just assists, but perhaps they can be catalysts for a little more offense for these two.

The Coyotes absolutely cannot win without them producing.

Next: Radim Vrbata Is Not Washed Up

Arizona is now 21-0-4 in it’s last 25 meetings with Edmonton. Dominance.

They square off against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night with a two game win streak behind them.