Coyotes fail to gain ground in wild-card race with OT loss to Oilers

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Connor McDavid kept the Arizona Coyotes from gaining in their wild card race by scoring his second goal of the game 58 seconds into overtime to give the Edmonton Oilers a 3-2 win at Gila River Arena on Saturday.

Alex Galchenyuk scored twice for Arizona (36-30-6), which lost for the third time in 13 games, and the second time in its past 10 home games. The Coyotes lead the Minnesota Wild by two points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference and trail the Dallas Stars by one point for the first wild card. The Wild defeated the New York Rangers 5-2.
"I'm not upset. Edmonton is a desperate team, they've got two of the best players in the world in McDavid and (Leon) Draisaitl and they're fighting and scratching. They're a good team," Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said. "That was a playoff-type of hockey."
WATCH: [All Oilers vs. Coyotes highlights]
McDavid scored his third game-winner in overtime this season for Edmonton (32-32-7), which is 8-3-1 in its past 12 games and trails the Coyotes by six points.
"It's good to get this win," said McDavid, who has five goals in three games against Arizona. "They're tough. They play scrappy hockey and the type of hockey that's not necessarily pretty, but they win games. It was a good test to play against them."

McDavid won it for the Oilers with a wrist shot from the slot after a pass from Oscar Klefbom, who carried the puck in from the Coyotes blue line.
"He picks up a pass at his feet on the outside of his skate, which makes it even more impressive," Oilers forward Milan Lucic said. "Playing soccer before the game, his soccer game isn't very impressive, but on the ice his footwork is good."
McDavid scored his 35th goal of the season and first shorthanded at 3:38 of the first on a breakaway created by Alex Chiasson's pass, putting a shot under the crossbar while Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson tried poking the puck off his stick.
"I thought their [top] line was the difference," Ekman-Larsson said. "McDavid's probably the best player in the League right now. I thought they had an unbelievable game."
Galchenyuk tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 18:24 of the first, a wrist shot from the right circle. Conor Garland screened Oilers goalie Mikko Koskinen, who made 28 saves.
"When Alex shoots the puck, he's dangerous," Tocchet said. "He was more aggressive with the puck tonight and he's got to do that."

Matt Benning scored for the third consecutive game and gave the Oilers a 2-1 lead at 4:52 of the second with a slap shot from the left circle.
"Most of the goals I've scored, the forwards and defensemen have done the work and I just put myself in a good spot to shoot," Benning said.
Galchenyuk tied the game 12 seconds later at 5:04 when he put in a rebound of Nick Cousins' shot to make it 2-2 after Andrej Sekera turned the puck over to Garland in the neutral zone.
Darcy Kuemper made 22 saves for the Coyotes; it was his third loss in 14 games (11-2-1).

They said it

"It was a big goal by a big-time player and we rely on him to score goals, especially in overtime." -- Oilers forward Milan Lucic on center Connor McDavid
"McDavid is an elite player, and anything can happen 3-on-3. I'm proud of the guys, with five games in the last (eight) nights. I thought the guys gave us juice tonight. We're fine. We got a point. We're OK." -- Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet

Need to know

The Oilers entered with 13 wins in their previous 43 games against the Coyotes. … McDavid has 21 points (five goals, 16 assists) during an 11-game point streak. … Draisaitl's assist on Benning's goal was his 90th point of the season. … Edmonton has won four straight on the road. … Galchenyuk is the sixth Coyotes player to have a multi-goal game in Arizona's past 10 games.

What's next

Oilers: At the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday (10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SNW, NHL.TV)
Coyotes: At the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, TVAS, SUN, FS-A PLUS, NHL.TV)