Evander Kane scored twice and Evan Bouchard had three assists as the Edmonton Oilers beat the Arizona Coyotes 6-3 in Tempe.
Kane, Leon Draistaitl, Mattias Janmark, Warren Foegele and Zach Hyman all got on the board for the Oilers (33-18-1) who have won two straight games. Stuart Skinner made 22 saves in the victory.
Nick Bjugstad had a two-goal game and Clayton Keller also scored for the Coyotes (23-28-4). Matt Villalta stopped 20 shots in his NHL debut and Arizona’s 10th consecutive loss.
Tale of Two Halves
On one of the most potent power play units in the NHL, Draisaitl opened the game with an Oilers lead, 1-0 just 2:12 in. Walking in on the Coyotes’ net, Draisaitl found enough space over Villalta’s left shoulder and sniped.
Bjugstad, a former Oiler, knotted it up 1-1 at 4:15 of the first period with a shot that ricocheted off of Skinner’s helmet and in.
1:52 later, Edmonton regained a one-goal lead thanks to Janmark tipping a point shot from Brett Kulak.
Coming out of the first intermission, Arizona picked up the pace and controlled the tempo.
As a result of a passing playing between Nick Schmaltz and him, Clayton Keller received the puck right back and wired a one-timer past Skinner for a 2-2 score at 2:53 of the middle period.
Then off of a line change, Keller fed Bjugstad with a cross ice pass before the ‘Yotes center scored again midway through the second.
In the third period, it was all Oilers.
Kane fired the puck top shelf and it immediately flied out of the net at 4:28 before Hyman would net his team-leading 33rd goal of the season 26 seconds later to tie and regain the lead for Edmonton, 4-3.
“We stuck to our game plan and kinda got away from it,” Bjugstad said. “They scored on us and they kinda kept coming. The moral of the story of these last 10 games – we’re in them and we aren’t finding ways to have a full 60 [minutes]. It’s pretty cliché, pretty simple, but right now it seems to be very difficult for all of us.”
Extending Edmonton’s advantage and burying his second goal of the game, Kane made it 5-3 by ripping a shot through a screen in front of Villalta.
“We played an elite team on a tough schedule,” Coyotes head coach André Touringy said. ” We break down for five minutes and we cannot stop the bleeding. They [Oilers] have three scoring chances, three goals right there. It is not on our goalie [Matt Villalta]. They had traffic at the net, they are a tough team to play against.”
To seal the Oilers’ 6-3 victory, Foegele scored an empty netter.
Next Games
Coyotes: Home vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (30-16-8) on Feb. 21 at 8 p.m. MST
Oilers: Home vs. Boston Bruins (33-12-11) on Feb. 21 at 8 p.m. MST
*
More must-reads: