{{pageModel.leagueAbbr}} {{pageModel.subtitle}} | Las Vegas Review-Journal
National Hockey League
Arizona 4, Edmonton 2
When: 10:00 PM ET, Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Where: Gila River Arena, Glendale, Arizona
Referees: Tim Peel, Kyle Rehman
Linesmen: Brian Murphy, Jay Sharrers
Attendance: 13408

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The rosters have changed over the past seven years. So have the respective strengths of the teams. One thing has remained constant. Arizona Coyotes coach Dave Tippett owns the Edmonton Oilers.

Alex Tanguay, Tobias Rieder, Martin Hanzal and Max Domi scored, and goalie Mike Smith made 27 saves as the Coyotes extended their franchise-record points streak against the Oilers to 23 games with a 4-2 win on Tuesday at Gila River Arena.

Arizona is 19-0-4 during the streak and Tippett improved to 24-2-4 against Edmonton in his seven seasons in Arizona. The last time Arizona lost to Edmonton in regulation was on Jan. 25, 2011.

"I wish I could explain it but I can't," Tippett said. "That's a team that if you give them a lot of outnumbered chances or give them easy chances they can really hurt you but Smitty cleaned up a few of those for us tonight."

Jordan Eberle and Mark Letestu scored for Edmonton, which got 27 saves from Cam Talbot but lost its second straight one-goal game to fall into the Western Conference cellar.

"I think from our end we'd like to have the first goal back," Edmonton coach Todd McLellan said. "We had missed an assignment on a faceoff that cost us and we had numerous scoring chances that we didn’t bury. That's probably the difference."

Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson made a quick impact in his first game back after missing six with a bruised shoulder. Oilers goalie Cam Talbot couldn't handle Ekman-Larsson's shot from the point and the rebound bounced to Tanguay at the right post. Tanguay banged it in for his eighth goal of the season at 5:38 of the first period.

It was Tanguay's fourth goal in nine games with Arizona since coming over from Colorado in a trade-deadline deal. The goal broke a 126-minute, 32-second scoring drought for Arizona, which had been shut out in its last two games.

Ekman-Larsson was on the ice for all four Coyotes goals and was a plus-3 in the game.

Edmonton tied the game at 9:04 of the first period when former Coyote Lauri Korpikoski tried to jam the puck in at the far post off a rebound of Connor McDavid's initial shot. Goalie Mike Smith made a pair of saves, but the rebound squirted under defenseman Connor Murphy to Eberle. Eberle tucked it in the open side for 23rd goal of the season and third in his past five games.

The Coyotes took a 2-1 lead on a power play at 12:22 of the second period when Hanzal set up a screen in front of Talbot and deflected Michael Stone's shot from the point off the post and in for his 11th goal of the season.

Rieder widened the lead to 3-1 at 17:02 when he cut across the slot largely uncontested by the Edmonton defense and slipped the puck in the far side past Talbot.

"I was kind of surprised I got the lane to the net first of all and then it just kind of stuck to me," said Rieder, who scored just his second goal in his last 21 games. "It’s good to get on the board."

Edmonton answered on a power play at 17:56 with Coyotes captain Shane Doan off for holding. Defenseman Andrej Sekera sent a cross-ice pass to Letestu at the top of left circle and Letestu blew a one-timer past Smith with his own defenseman, Klas Dahlbeck, screening him to cut the lead to 3-2.

Domi added an empty-net goal for Arizona. Domi, who went 13 games without a goal, has seven points (five goals) in five games against the Oilers.

"We battled hard," Letestu said. "We had them hemmed in and in their zone for a lot of the third period. We just couldn't find that third one."

NOTES: Oilers C Ryan Nugent-Hopkins left the game in the second period and did not return after taking a hit to the face from Coyotes D Connor Murphy. ... Coyotes D Oliver Ekman-Larsson returned to the lineup after a six-game absence. He sustained a bruised shoulder March 7 against Colorado while battling for position with Avalanche C Matt Duchene. ... With Ekman-Larsson back, the Coyotes reassigned D Philip Samuelsson to Springfield of the American Hockey League. ... Coyotes G Mike Smith turned 34 on Tuesday. ... Edmonton tied the NHL record for the longest postseason drought when they were eliminated from contention Sunday. The Oilers' 10-year drought matches the Florida Panthers' record set from the 1999-2000 season to 2011-12. Edmonton hasn't made the playoffs since 2006, when it lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup finals in seven games. ... Oilers LW Patrick Maroon missed Tuesday's game with an undisclosed illness.
Top Game Performances
 
Edmonton   Arizona
Connor McDavid 2 Points Martin Hanzal 2
Jordan Eberle 1 Goals Martin Hanzal 1
Connor McDavid 2 Assists Martin Hanzal 1
Jordan Eberle 1 Power Play Goals Martin Hanzal 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Cameron Talbot .900 Save Percentage Mike Smith .931
Cameron Talbot 27 Saves Mike Smith 27
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Edmonton 29 2 2-4 2-3 6 26
Arizona 31 4 1-3 2-4 8 37
Upcoming Games
  • Arizona will play their next game at home against Dallas. The Coyotes have a W/L % of .484 after a win and .405 after a loss.
  • Edmonton will play their next game on the road against San Jose. The Oilers have a W/L % of .448 after a win and .340 after a loss.