Recap: Garland Scores Twice in Win Over Oilers

EDMONTON --Conor Garland scored two goals, including a scary one that resulted in 10 stitches in his face, to lead the Coyotes to a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night at Rogers Place.
Jordan Oesterle also notched a goal, and Darcy Kuemper stopped 23 of 25 shots for Arizona, which extended its winning streak to three games and its point streak to four games.

"That was a good, grind-out win," Garland said. "It got tight late, and obviously they have some dangerous players that can strike at any time, so to keep them in check was pretty good ... We played a detailed game, played hard, played the way we want to play."
The Coyotes trailed 1-0 after one period thanks to a breakaway goal scored by Connor McDavid 6:46 into the game.

Oesterle, who began his career with the Oilers, pulled Arizona into a 1-1 tie when he rifled a shot from the right point past Edmonton goalie Cam Talbot at 1:16 of the second. Oesterle has scored eight NHL goals, with three coming vs. the Oilers.
"I don't know what it is, but it's always exciting playing against a former team and trying to prove something," said Oesterle, who also blocked eight shots. "It's always nice to score here when we play against them."
The Oilers challenged the goal claiming the Coyotes were off-side, but after video review the goal was allowed and Edmonton was penalized for delay of game. During the ensuing power play, the game took a dramatic turn.
Oesterle, trying to score a second goal from just about the same spot as his first, again launched the puck on net. On its way, it struck Garland, who had been sent to the ice by a cross-check, just above his left eye and then trickled into the net for a goal. Garland, bleeding profusely, was immediately helped to Arizona's dressing room where he remained until nearly the end of the period.

"I wasn't too sure what hit me," Garland said. "I knew I got hit but then I saw the blood, and as I was going off the ice OEL said 'nice goal,' so that's when I realized. Then it was on the TV in the medical room, so I got to see it."
Garland did not regret taking one for the team.
"I've got to go to the net if I want to play in this league, and try to get some goals from the blue paint," Garland said. "That's the way it's got to be."
Oesterle was relieved that Garland was OK.
"We were a little worried," Oesterle said. "We didn't know how bad it was hitting him in the face. But he's a warrior and he battled back ... He's willing to put his body on the line to score goals."

Tied 2-2, Garland scored a second power-play goal at 1:54 of the third period. Alex Galchenyuk started the scoring sequence by winning a face-off back to Clayton Keller, who launched a shot over the goal from the high slot. The puck hit the end boards and then bounced back into the low slot, off Garland's left shin and into the goal.
"I tried to box out (Ryan) Nugent-Hopkins," Garland said. "'Kells' got all of it and it just hit the glass hard and it bounced right to me, so it was a lucky little bouncer."
• Garland stretched his goal-scoring streak to four games, becoming the sixth rookie in Coyotes/Jets history to score at least one goal in four consecutive games and the first since Teemu Selanne set the franchise record, scoring in nine straight from March 14 - April 1, 1993.
• Oesterle notched his first two-point game as a member of the Coyotes and the fourth of his 115-game NHL career.
"It felt good," Oesterle said. "We kind of put it all together, what we've been working on the last two weeks now."

• Head Coach Rick Tocchet liked how the Coyotes defended McDavid and his linemates.
"I thought everybody contributed tonight," Tocchet said. "There was no passengers. Derek Stepan, I thought he played a great game with Nik (Hjalmarsson) and OEL. Shutting that line down, it's a tough assignment and they did a nice job .
He added: "Every day something has hit this team, and somehow we've dealt with it. I give a lot of guys a lot of credit right now."

• Galchenyuk chipped in two assists to raise his point total to 24 in 34 games. That ranks second on the team, seven behind Keller, who has played in all 44 games. Galchenyuk has produced more than half of those points (four goals, nine assists) in his past 10 games.
• Center Jordan Weal, who arrived in Edmonton from Philadelphia just a few hours before the game began, skated 14:51 and won nine of 13 face-offs in his debut with the Coyotes. Arizona acquired him from the Flyers via a trade on Friday after learning that center Brad Richardson would be sidelined for about a month because of an upper-body injury.
"It was a shock at first, then I just got really excited the more and more I thought about it," Weal said about the trade. "Coming to a team like this, it's got so much speed and skill. When we played them a couple months ago, I could really tell it's a young group that's moving forward."