Edmonton Oilers (32-18-1) at Arizona Coyotes (23-27-4)
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Starting Time/Venue: 2 p.m. MST at Mullett Arena in Tempe, AZ
Wrapping up a season series with the Colorado Avalanche yesterday, the Arizona Coyotes will hit the ice again not even 24 hours later as they host the Edmonton Oilers this afternoon.
Arizona are coming off of a back-to-back after the first leg resulted in a 4-3 loss to the Avalanche. Matias Maccelli had two assists while Logan Cooley was one of the scorers in the Coyotes’ ninth straight defeat.
The ‘Yotes pushed back late in the third period to find a goal and tie it, but were unable to produce an opportunity to do so. Colorado’s defensive play and goaltender Alexandar Georgiev were able to lockdown Arizona before time ultimately expired.
Flying back home to the Valley, Arizona has another tough test awaiting, a matinee against Edmonton.
Both the ‘Yotes and Oilers have yet to play each other this season, with the two other games scheduled not until mid-April.
In franchise history, the Coyotes are 85-103-11-13 all-time when facing Edmonton. Arizona was 0-2-1 last season.
Oilers Notes
From Dec. 21, 2o23 to Jan. 27, the Oilers won 16 consecutive games in a row to climb from near the bottom of the NHL to a playoff spot in the Pacific Division. Edmonton are third in their respective division with 65 points.
The streak eventually snapped on Feb. 6 when they lost to the Vegas Golden Knights 3-1.
Since their miracle run came to an end, Edmonton are 3-2, with their latest result being a 4-3 victory over the Dallas Stars in overtime on Saturday. Evan Bouchard scored two goals, including the game-winner.
Captain Connor McDavid is doing Connor McDavid things lately as the arguably best player in hockey.
Coming into Mullett Arena, he has 13 points in his past five games. This season, McDavid is the NHL leader in assists (60) while in third league-wide in points (81).
As for McDavid’s righthand man Leon Draisaitl, he has posted 26 goals, 39 assists and 65 points so far. Last year, Draisaitl had 52 goals and 76 assists for 128 points across 80 games.
Putting their early season struggles to bed, Edmonton rank fifth with 3.51 goals-for per game and are 11th in goals-against (2.88) in the NHL.
As for their lethal power play, the Oilers are fifth in the league, scoring at a 26.5% clip. Their penalty kill is 79.8% successful, good for 15th.
Stat Leaders
Goals: Coyotes – RW Clayton Keller: 21 | Oilers – RW Zach Hyman: 32
Assists: Coyotes – RW Clayton Keller: 28 | Oilers – C Connor McDavid: 60
Points: Coyotes – RW Clayton Keller: 49 (21 goals, 28 assists) | Oilers – C Connor McDavid: 81 points (21 goals, 60 assists)
Injuries
Arizona Coyotes: D Troy Stecher (lower body – IR), C Travis Boyd (upper body – IR), F Liam O’Brien (upper body – IR), G Connor Ingram (lower body – OUT)
Edmonton Oilers:Â N/A
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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers the Arizona Coyotes, Cardinals and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account @AlecCipollini
