'Yotes Notes: Hjalmarsson Leaves Game vs. Oilers Because of Injury

EDMONTON --Coyotes defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson left the game vs. the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night at Rogers Place in the middle of the second period because of an upper-body injury. He did not return.
After the game, Head Coach Rick Tocchet said Hjalmarsson is considered day-to-day. He will be further evaluated before Arizona plays its next game at Calgary on Thursday.
Hjalmarsson, an alternate captain, missed 10 games earlier this season because of an upper-body injury. He has chipped in four assists in 17 games, and ranks second on the team with 40 blocked shots.
• Arizona needed a bounce-back game from goalie Scott Wedgewood on Tuesday and he delivered. Wedgewood stopped 24 of 27 shots to help the Coyotes earn a point in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Oilers.

"I think the guys deserved that win," Wedgewood said. "They played well in front of me. They have a high-powered offense, and we kept them to two goals and one in overtime. We did great defensively."

With Antti Raanta sidelined because of an upper-body injury, Tocchet again turned to Wedgewood after pulling him from Saturday's game after a dreadful 1:42 span in which he allowed three goals to the Vegas Golden Knights. He responded with a performance that earned him the No. 2 Star of the Game.
"'Wedgie' was really good for us," forward Christian Fischer said. "There was a couple saves on the power play; they hemmed us in there for two minutes. He came up huge for us in this game. It could have easily been a blowout ... He got the point for us."

• The Coyotes out-shot the Oilers, 4-1, in the overtime, but ended up losing when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins beat Wedgewood with a clean shot on a breakaway with 39.8 seconds left. At the other end, overtime breakaway shots by Tobias Rieder and Christian Dvorak got past Oilers goalie Cam Talbot, but hit the crossbar.
"We played a really good game," Tocchet said. "I really liked our start. The Oilers started to come a little bit, and we got a little antsy and they capitalized on a couple of their chances. We had two breakaways and two posts and a missed shot (in overtime). We had a lot of chances tonight and we deserved to win that game, and the Oilers capitalized on the amount of chances they had."
• Fischer gave Arizona a 1-0 lead at 6:22 of the first period when he swatted a loose puck past Talbot from in close. The goal was Fischer's seventh of the season. Only Clayton Keller (11) and Brendan Perlini (eight) have lit the lamp more often than Fischer for Arizona this season.
"Their three goals are just breakdowns," Fischer said. "I think, for the most part, we probably out-chanced them and limited their top guys. But 3-on-3 is anybody's game and all it takes is one bad bounce or a missed shot wide. We got a point. We'll move on and go to Calgary."

• Tied 1-1, Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored a power-play goal with 48.1 seconds left in the second period. The goal extended Ekman-Larsson's point streak to six games. Ekman-Larsson has notched 10 of his 94 NHL goals vs. Edmonton.
• Dylan Strome skated 11:43 and took two shots on goal in his first game with Arizona since Oct. 7. The Coyotes recalled Strome from the American Hockey League on Sunday after he produced eight goals and 18 assists in 15 games. Strome started the game as left wing on a line with center Brad Richardson and Keller.
The game was the 10th of Strome's NHL career and the second he got to play against his older brother Ryan as NHLers. The two competed against each other last season when Ryan played for the New York Islanders.

• Derek Stepan won 18 of 28 face-offs to bring his season total to 284. Only six other NHLers have won more draws than Stepan this season.
• Luke Schenn led the Coyotes with six hits and five blocked shots.