The Edmonton Oilers, and therefore I lost fair and square last night to James Tanner and his Arizona Coyotes. With that said, here are my thoughts on last night's contest.
After intense and emotional games against the Calgary Flames and St Louis Blues, the Edmonton Oilers may have expected to roll through the Coyotes as nothing more than a blip on the schedule. Arizona's lineup was depleted with veteran players like Kuemper, Demers, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson all out.
With that said, the Coyotes did more than hang around and ended up outchancing the Oilers through every period. Antti Raanta made the crucial saves when he needed to and Arizona took two points and gave themselves needed distance from the teams on their heels.
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First thing first, Taylor Hall and his line skated circles around the Oilers all night. After calling out Conor Garland and Christian Dvorak prior to the game, both players notched goals against the Oilers. These two were led by Hall who was flying around the ice all night. This line notched 5 High Danger chances while not allowing a single one against.
Edmonton's calling card this season has been their powerplay and even though the Coyotes gave the Oilers three different chances on the PP, they contained the Oil to a mere 5 total shots. Arizona was aggressive on their PK, preventing the likes of McDavid and Draisaitl from ever getting a chance to setup. The nail in the coffin was the shorthanded goal scored by Lawson Crouse.
At the end of the game, Edmonton may have outshot the Coyotes but there was really never any lengthy period of the game where the Oilers had any serious control. Rick Tocchet has his team playing well in his system and while their trap game may not be to everyone's liking, it is undeniably effective against teams with front loaded talent like the Edmonton Oilers.
Lastly some praise must also be sent to the young and unconventional GM John Chayka who hasn't been afraid to pursue big names to improve his team. Adding both Phil Kessel and Taylor Hall within a year of one another is an impressive feat, especially considering the assets they moved out in exchange. With young talent like Barrett Hayton in the system, Arizona should be competitive for years to come.
This win showed that the Coyotes should still be considered a serious threat in the Pacific. Once some of their key players are back in the lineup, it shouldn't be surprising to see this team go on a run and make some noise in this latter part of the season.
Thanks for reading.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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