Kane scores twice, Oilers extend Coyotes’ losing streak to 10 games with 6-3 win
By John Marshall, The Associated Press on February 19, 2024.
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) – Edmonton missed on a few early scoring opportunities and found itself trailing as the game turned to the third period. Evander Kane scored a quick goal, Zach Hyman followed with another and the Oilers poured it on to race away from a team mired in a long losing streak. Kane scored two of Edmonton’s four goals in the third period, Connor McDavid added two assists to extend his NHL lead and the Oilers stretched the Arizona Coyotes’ losing streak to 10 games with a 6-3 win on Monday. “When things aren’t going our way or we don’t have our best game going, (it’s) just staying composed, not panicking and knowing if we hang around long enough and get our game in order we can pull it out,” Kane said. “This was a good example of doing that this afternoon.” With Edmonton trailing 3-2 heading into the third period, Kane and Zach Hyman scored 26 apart to push the Oilers into the lead. Kane scored again on a deflection less than two minutes later and Warren Foegele sealed it with an empty-net goal. Leon Draisaitl and Mattias Janmark also scored for Edmonton, and Stuart Skinner had 22 saves. McDavid had assists on the first and last goals, pushing his season total to 62. “Good teams are able to put together long streaks and good teams also don’t put long losing streaks together,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Obviously, getting back to back (wins) feels good. We just want to build on that.” The Coyotes have built momentum in the wrong direction. Arizona’s Nick Bjugstad scored twice and Matt Villalta made 20 saves in his first NHL start. Clayton Keller had a goal and an assist to become the fifth Coyotes player to have at least four 50-point seasons. Arizona has allowed at least four goals seven times during its losing streak. “It’s too bad because we did a lot of good things,” Coyotes coach André Tourigny said. “We break down and we cannot stop the bleeding. They have three scoring chances and three goals right there.” The Coyotes played well against Colorado on Sunday, but lost 4-3 and had a short turnaround before facing one of the NHL’s highest-scoring teams. The Oilers jumped on them quickly, scoring on a power play when Draisaitl beat Villalta from a tight angle on a give-and-go with McDavid. Bjugstad got it right back, beating Skinner from the right circle after keeping it on a 2-on-1. Janmark answered a few minutes later, redirecting a shot by Brett Kulak past Villalta. The Oilers later hit the post twice in first period and Keller tied it on a power play early in the second off rapid-fire back-and-forth passing with Nick Schmaltz. Bjugstad put the Coyotes up 3-2 midway through the second period, beating Skinner stick side after the Oilers got caught on a line change. “It’s tough in the room right now; we’ve got to figure it out,” Bjugstad said. “It’s very frustrating, myself included. We would do anything, just about anything, for a win right now.” UP NEXT Edmonton: Starts at a five-game homestand on Wednesday against the Boston Bruins. Arizona: Hosts the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday. — AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl 23-22
