Oilers suffer surprise OT loss to lame-duck Coyotes

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The Edmonton Oilers suffered a surprise 3-2 OT loss at the hand of an Arizona Coyotes team whose days are numbered in the desert on Friday night.

Edmonton got goals from Adam Henrique and Darnell Nurse, but it was a snipe from Matias Macelli in OT that wound up deciding this one. The loss broke a seven-game win streak against the Coyotes going back to 2020.

The first period was a mess for the Oilers as the Coyotes controlled the majority of play at both ends of the ice. Edmonton was able to battle back from two deficits and had themselves a pretty decent third period, but could not find that extra goal past Arizona goaltender Karel Vejmelka.

“Early on, it wasn’t our best… I think we spent a lot of time in the defensive zone, maybe a little puck management and not executing plays,” head coach Kris Knoblauch said after the game. “I think a lot of it was just [players] in position, we weren’t aggressive enough to get the puck back and we were just having to defend more than we needed to.”

Getting a point means that the Oilers were able to clinch home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs, but missing out on that extra point will make their pursuit of the Pacific Division that much more difficult.

“D”epth scoring

Darnell Nurse’s 10th goal of the season not only brought the Oilers back to equal ground but also gave the team three different defencemen with 10+ goals on the season, joining Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard. 

The Oilers are the only team in the NHL to have three defenders reach that mark this season. 

This is the fourth time that Nurse has scored at least 10 goals in a single season. His career-high of 16 came in the 2020-21 shortened season. He trails Ekholm (11) and Bouchard (17) in goals from the Oilers blueline. 

That is the type of depth scoring Edmonton hopes can continue into the postseason. 

Doan keeps up a family tradition

It’s been a while since Oilers fans saw a player with the last name  Doan scoring a goal against their team. Josh Doan, the son of Coyotes’ legend Shane Doan, helped to keep a family tradition alive tonight, scoring the first goal of the game and the fourth of his career. 

“Young team like that, they want to test themselves a quality team like us,” Evander Kane said after the game. “They don’t really care where they are in the standings or how many games are left… they’re looking to bring their best every night and kind of playing with nothing to lose.”

Doan’s father feasted on the Oilers during his 21-year NHL career, scoring 17 goals and 63 points in 79  games against Edmonton. One can’t help but think that this might be the last time a Doan scores a goal in a Coyotes uniform.

The Utah Factor

Regarding the difference in motivation for these two clubs heading into tonight, things couldn’t be more different. 

The Oilers are in the midst of a fight for the division title with the Vancouver Canucks, while the Coyotes reportedly got the news that their franchise is heading to Utah next season before the game got started. 

“It’s a bit of a mess over there [regarding Arizona’s arena situation],” Adam Henrique told reporters after the loss. “We don’t know what the clarification is or where things are at, but you certainly respect them as players.”

You’ve got to think that helped Arizona, who is now mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, get some pep in their step tonight. The emotion was evident after Logan Cooley’s second-period marker. 

These two teams will meet one more time in what will surely be an emotional final game of the season for the Coyotes next Wednesday. 

The Oilers are now just three points back of the Vancouver Canucks for the top spot in the division. This sets up a huge matchup between the Oilers and Canucks tomorrow night at Rogers Place. The Oilers will either finish the season atop their division or in the second-place spot, where they have ended each of their last two seasons.

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