Oilers fall to Coyotes in OT without McDavid, clinch home ice for 1st round

EDMONTON -- Matias Maccelli scored 1:35 into overtime to give the Arizona Coyotes a 3-2 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Friday.

With the point for reaching overtime, the Oilers clinched home ice in the Western Conference First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Oilers also pulled within three points of the Vancouver Canucks for first place in the Pacific Division. Vancouver visits Edmonton on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, CITY, TVAS2).

“I think the guys are a very focused group, a mature group wanting to win as many games as possible,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “And there is a possibility of finishing first in our division, whether that gives us the benefit of having home ice much longer.

“But I think guys are focused on wanting to play the right way and doing well.”

Connor McDavid missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury. Knoblauch said there is a 50-50 chance the Edmonton captain returns to the lineup Saturday.

Adam Henrique and Darnell Nurse scored, and Evander Kane had two assists for the Oilers (48-24-6), whose three-game winning streak ended. Calvin Pickard made 25 saves.

“They scored in overtime and we didn’t,” said Kane, who hit the post midway through the first period then put his own rebound off the crossbar. “We had some good looks where we probably could have had a couple more, but we didn’t get the job done on that front and they scored in overtime.

“I think we were a little off early on but we got better, especially in the second period, and tied it early in the third. We had a lot of good looks but weren’t able to find that third goal.”

Maccelli won it on a wrist shot from the left circle to the top corner past Pickard’s glove.

Maccelli had an assist, and Karel Vejmelka made 38 saves for the Coyotes (35-40-5), who have been eliminated from playoff contention but have won four of five, including a 4-3 overtime victory Wednesday against the Canucks.

“I think we were tuned in. The game in Vancouver was a little more emotional, to be honest,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. “I think today we were a little more composed and under control.

“I think we played rock solid, they had a push and I think we held on, our goalie made some good saves. I think we battled. The guys are unbelievable because they kept their focus.”

Josh Doan put the Coyotes ahead 1-0 at 5:20, picking up the rebound off a one-timer from the right face-off dot by Jack McBain and sending it past the stick of Pickard.

Henrique tied it 1-1 at 1:49 of the second period, taking a centering pass in front of the net from Kane and sliding it between the legs of Vejmelka.

“These games can kind of at times go under the radar as everybody talks about tomorrow,” Henrique said. “I thought we did a good job of focusing on what we needed to do, but we didn’t have the best start.

“I thought we battled and had opportunities, but we couldn’t find a way to get that next one to give us that extra momentum.”

Logan Cooley gave Arizona a 2-1 lead at 5:37, swatting the rebound of a Sean Durzi shot in off the pads of Pickard.

Nurse tied it 2-2 at 1:12 of the third period with a point shot off a bank pass from behind the net by Warren Foegele that got past a screened Vejmelka.

“They’re a young team with a lot of guys trying to establish themselves in the League,” Kane said of the Coyotes. “And when you have a lot of players like that, they don’t really care where they are in the standings or how many games are left, they’re looking to bring their best every night, playing with nothing to lose.”