Instant Reaction: Oilers fall to the Salt Lake City Coyotes with a 3-2 loss in overtime
22 days ago
Well… the good news is that the Edmonton Oilers still control their fate for the Pacific Division crown. On Friday evening, the Oilers hosted the soon-to-be Utah Coyotes, falling 3-2 in overtime.
The Connor McDavid-less Oilers were down by a goal about five minutes into the first period. Josh Doan (yes, Shane Doan’s son) opened the scoring on a rebound that found its way to the front of the net. The rookie has four goals early in his career.
However, Edmonton tied the game early in the second, as Evander Kane fired the puck towards the goal and took a bounce off the Coyotes’ netminder to Adam Henrique, who scored his fifth goal as an Oiler. Him and Sam Carrick have provided a lot for the Oilers in their first 18 games or so, this definitely wasn’t a bad trade.
Arizona fired back shortly after, as Calvin Pickard allowed another pretty awful rebound. The puck found its way to an open Coyote in front of the net. This was the second such goal of the evening, which is odd because Pickard is pretty good at putting pucks toward the corners.
Before the two-minute mark of the next period, the Oilers once again tied the game as a Darnell Nurse shot found its way into the back of the net. On top of an assist, Kane’s net-front presence drew two Coyotes to the front of the net, creating a three-player screen.
The Oilers fell in overtime, as Mattias Maccelli’s shot from the slot beat Pickard over the glove. Not the greatest of games from the Oilers’ backup netminder, but this was the first real stinker he’s had aside from the Dallas game earlier this month.
Things worth mentioning…
Connor McDavid missed another game, and the race for him to win his fifth-consecutive Art Ross trophy looks to be over. While his 130 points are impressive, he is now 11 behind Nikita Kucherov, who will likely hit the 100-assist marker as well. There are four games left for McDavid and the Oilers.
Evander Kane had one of his best games in a long time, as he picked up assists on both of Edmonton’s goals. He’s been playing better as a whole in recent times, and hopefully, he can get going in the playoffs.
The Oilers still control their fate, as their 102 points are just three back of the Vancouver Canucks, who lead the Division. They have a game in hand and will play the Canucks tomorrow, meaning if they win in regulation, they’ll finish first in the Pacific Division if they win their remaining three games afterwards.
Up next: You can catch that game against the Canucks on Saturday at 8:00 PM MT in one of the biggest games of the season for either team. Regardless of what happens, the Oilers will finish with home-ice advantage, as the Los Angeles Kings trail Edmonton by seven points with just three games remaining.
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