Arizona Coyotes Survive Oilers, Win 3-2 In Shootout
The Arizona Coyotes snuck out of Gila River Arena with a much needed win on Friday night.
The Connor McDavid experience was on full display for the Arizona Coyotes.
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Thankfully, even the savior can’t thwart time. It catches up to us all.
Such was the case when McDavid’s last second overtime buzzer beater was overturned, allowing the Yotes a third chance at winning the contest.
The third time was most definitely the charm.
Early in the first period, the Coyotes scrounged up a few plum chances on Cam Talbot. And then it happened.
After a Talbot save the Oilers found McDavid on the break and he blew by Oliver Ekman-Larsson to beat Mike Smith. 1-0 Oilers.
Arizona responded well, piling up shots and pressure on Edmonton throughout the rest of the first.
Hockey is a fickle sport, however, and another defensive breakdown allowed Adam Larsson to score and put the Oil up 2-0.
Again the Arizona Coyotes responded, and this time the effort was rewarded with a goal.
Martin Hanzal manhandled McDavid on the face-off. Once the Yotes got the puck into the offensive zone Radim Vrbata found Domi wide open and he beat Talbot for his third goal of the season. 2-1.
No goals were scored in the second period, but the Coyotes continued to press for the first half of the frame. The second half of the period saw the Oilers regain some life and push back, but Smith was able to keep them out.
Eight minutes into the third period, Arizona tied it up when Shane Doan redirected Anthony DeAngelo‘s point shot.
It was pretty much white knuckle after that.
The Yotes let off the gas late in the third and that continued into the overtime frame, where DeAngelo was called for a pretty soft tripping call.
Despite having Connor Murphy and Alex Goligoski on the ice for the full duration of the kill, Mike Smith and his merry band of PKers managed to stave off the Edmonton attack. It was a pretty heroic effort by the pair.
A boneheaded stretch pass by Hanzal allowed the Oilers a last second chance, but McDavid was denied by 0.1 seconds on the clock as the puck did not cross the line before time expired.
In the shootout, Radim Vrbata was money and OEL won it. Coyotes win 3-2.
Arizona Coyotes Player of the Game
The timekeeper.
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No, really. I think we’ll go Max Domi.
While his buddy Duke has been dinged for effort this season, that’s never a problem for Mad Max. He’s put up points without scoring goals, and tonight he was rewarded for all that hard work with another goal of his own.
Tony DeAngelo gets the honorable mention. He doesn’t necessarily deserve player of the game, but six points in his first eight NHL games is pretty good considering how terrible this team has been offensively. Keep it up, Tony D!
The View From The Afternoon
The Arizona Coyotes deserved to win that game.
There aren’t many games so far this season we can say that about, but tonight the effort was there for all but the final few minutes of the third period.
Mike Smith bounced back tremendously from that disaster of a game on Wednesday, and Shane Doan and Max Domi finally got back to scoring.
On top of that, Anthony Duclair was engaged and active and it felt like he would break through as well.
Maybe Duke should play on Saturday night more often.
I still shake my head at scratching Jakob Chychrun again given the options on the table, but for tonight it worked out. The overtime stand by Goligoski and Murphy was mighty encouraging, though Goli was again -13 in even strength Corsi for the night.
For one night, the Coyotes toppled the Pacific Division leaders. 24 straight games with at least a point against the Oilers.
The record will be put to the test yet again on Sunday as Arizona travels to Edmonton.
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