The Wrap: Coyotes Can't Slow Down Oilers in Loss at Rogers Place

Final Score: Oilers 6, Coyotes 1

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                                      The star players of the Edmonton Oilers shined as Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl both scored while Ryan McLeod led all skaters with three points. Clayton Keller scored for the Coyotes for his 28th of the season, but it was the only offense Arizona could manufacture as the Oilers took Monday night's (March 28) game at Rogers Place 6-1.
                                      "It's a tough schedule. We know that and we're pretty banged up right now," said Head Coach André Tourigny. "Mentally we were maybe a little bit tired and maybe a little bit off. Our execution was not sharp and making plays was tough. We had a bad game. It wasn't a matter of not fighting or not working, it was execution."
                                      The first period saw the Oilers score twice in transition, beginning with McDavid showing patience and beating Karel Vejmelka with a backhand shot. Around the midway point, McLeod made it 2-0 game with a shot that banked off Vejmelka's back and in. Keller sliced the deficit to one by notching a power-play goal with a shot that went off Zach Hyman's stick and in.

The Oilers seized control of the game in the second period by widening their lead to 5-1 with a three-goal frame. McLeod made it a multi-goal game by splitting the Coyotes defenders on the power play, followed by Warren Foegele and Hyman scoring in a four-minute span, both of which came off of rebound opportunities.
"I think we just didn't really have the intensity we needed to come out with," said Dysin Mayo. "When we found our way back in the game we let in a couple of goals, and we couldn't really recover after that."
Draisaitl added one more early in the third period to make it a 6-1 game. Arizona got three power plays and showed fight down the stretch, outshooting Edmonton 10-7 in the third period, but the Oilers came away with the win.
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The Game:

First Period (EDM 2, ARI 1): Connor McDavid (36), assisted by Jesse Puljujarvi (20) at 4:05. /// Ryan McLeod (7), assisted by Darnell Nurse (22) and Derek Ryan (10) at 10:24. /// Clayton Keller (28), assisted by Phil Kessel (33) and Shayne Gostisbehere (31) at 15:52.
Second Period (EDM 5, ARI 1):Ryan McLeod (8), assisted by Kailer Yamamoto (15) and Duncan Keith (18) at 2:32. /// Warren Foegele (9), assisted by Tyson Barrie (26) and Ryan McLeod (10) at 12:28. /// Zach Hyman (22), assisted by Leon Draisaitl (48) at 16:11.
Third Period (EDM 6, ARI 1):Leon Draisaitl (48), assisted by Jesse Puljujarvi (21) at 9:53.

Statistics:
SOG:ARI - 32, EDM - 42
PP:ARI - 1/4, EDM - 1/3
FO%: ARI - 52%, EDM - 48%
Hits:ARI - 24, EDM - 28
Blocked Shots:ARI - 8, EDM - 12

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                                      Tourigny's Take: "Give them credit with a lot of their goals. They scored by wearing us down, possessing the puck in our zone and finally scoring. They're a good team and our execution was pretty tough. We were right there after one period, but it was tough for us to sustain. When I say bad game, it's just because the way that we executed with the puck was tough to beat a team like the Oilers tonight."
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Dysin Mayo said: "We just have to play like we did against Winnipeg [in order to get things back on track]. You could feel it in that game that everybody wanted to win. We were pushing the tide up there late in the third and we figured out how to. We just need to find that intensity and belief every night, and that will go a long way."
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Notable:
• Clayton Keller scored his 28th goal of the season, the first Coyote to reach that mark in a campaign since Shane Doan in 2015-16. His goal came on the power play, his fifth of that type, and is one shy of matching his career-high of six from 2017-18.
• Phil Kessel reached 40 points (7-33-40) for the second consecutive season.
• Shayne Gostisbehere has picked up an assist in three of his last five games and now has 190 in his career.
• The Coyotes maintained their 25% power play percentage since March 14 by going 1-for-4 tonight.
• Karel Vejmelka is the second rookie goaltender in Coyotes/Jets franchise history to play 40-plus games in a season, joining Eldon Reddick (48 GP) in 1986-87.
• Josef Korenar made his Coyotes debut by entering the game at the start of the third period. The netminder played all 20 minutes of the frame and stopped 6-of-7 shots.
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Coyotes Lineup:
Forwards
Keller - Boyd - Schmaltz
Crouse - Galchenyuk - Kessel
Ritchie - Jenik - Eriksson
Maccelli - Hayton - Carcone
Defensemen
Gostisbehere - Mayo
Dineen - Strålman
Capobianco - Kolyachonok

Scratches
Chychrun
Fischer
Moser
Beagle
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Roster Notes: Recently recalled Jan Jenik drew into the lineup in place of forward Jay Beagle. Beagle was a healthy scratch for the purposes of him not playing three games in four days so soon after being cleared to play post-surgery. Forward Lawson Crouse exited early due to an upper-body injury.
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What's Next: The Coyotes fly home and will play host to the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night (March 30) to conclude the month. Puck drop with the Sharks is set for 7 p.m. and will be broadcasted on Bally Sports Arizona Extra and ESPN 620 AM.
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Photo of the Game:Phil Kessel celebrates after Clayton Keller's goal in the second period.

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