GAME RECAP: Coyotes 5, Oilers 2

TEMPE, AZ – Oilers winger Warren Foegele reached 20 goals in a season for the first time in his career, but ultimately, Wednesday night was all about the Coyotes, who won their final game in Arizona with a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers at Mullett Arena.

"I just thought we didn't want it as much as them, and it kind of showed tonight," Foegele said.

The Coyotes came out and gave their fans inside an emotionally charged Mullett Arena the proper send-off before their apparent move to Salt Lake City next season, winning the matchup and the season series against Edmonton with a team effort that saw 12 different Coyotes skaters record points.

"You always talk about getting up for the game and getting ready for an emotional one," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "We were coming off a big win at home and we're also looking forward to the playoffs, and I think our guys' hearts were in it. I thought they executed okay. I don't think there were poor plays with the puck."

Former Edmonton Oil Kings forward Dylan Guenther had a goal and assist, while Lawson Crouse recorded the game-winner during a three-goal third period for the Coyotes that sealed the victory in the game that concludes the franchise's 28-year history in the desert.

Mattias Ekholm was able to set a new career-high of 45 points with an assist on Sam Carrick's 10th of the season during the first period, and Philip Broberg recorded a helper on iis return to the NHL on Foegele's 20th goal in the final frame.

The Oilers conclude their regular-season schedule with the final game of a road back-to-back on Thursday against the Avalanche.

FIRST PERIOD

Coyotes fans were decked out in white for what will be their franchise's last game in the desert before its reported relocation to Salt Lake City, so there was plenty of emotion in the building to see the 'Kachina' logo go out with a victory.

For the Oilers, part of their pre-game discussions revolved around meeting the Coyotes at their emotional level.

"You try and match it," Calvin Pickard, who made 19 saves in the defeat, said post-game. "Obviously we knew what were going to get in terms of them being fired up playing in front of their fans tonight, so it wasn't a great start for us with that bounce for a breakaway. But I thought we settled in."

Maybe it was fitting that the first goal in favour of the 'Yotes on Wednesday would come from a lucky bounce off the official's skate, setting up fan-favourite Liam O'Brien to open the scoring only 2:18 into the first period.

Former Oilers prospect Michael Kesselring picked up an assist when his stretch pass meant for O'Brien at the Oilers blueline missed the forward, but then struck the skate of the official to leave him with a wide-open look from the left circle. O'Brien walked in uncontested and shelved a snapshot over the left shoulder of Pickard, lifting the Coyotes into a 1-0 lead.

The Oilers, meanwhile, were looking to continue playing well entering the playoffs and were picking up the intensity after going a goal behind. There was nothing fortuitous about how their fourth line helped create Edmonton's equalizer off a shot-pass that was delivered by Mattias Ekholm, who set a new career-high with his 45th point.

After Sam Carrick produced a good wrap-around attempt earlier in a shift around the seven-minute mark, the forward was rewarded not long after with his 10th goal of the season on a redirection from the slot off Ekholm's well-placed effort.

It was Carrick's second goal in an Oilers uniform and helped him reach double-digit goals for the second time in his career (scored 11 with Anaheim in 2021-22).

SECOND PERIOD

The Coyotes weren't dead yet with two periods still remaining for them to claw for one final victory in their last stand as an NHL team.

After Edmonton and Arizona kept it scoreless in the second period for 15 minutes, the Coyotes once again retook the lead an a breakaway set-up by Jack McBain from the neutral zone to Mattias Maccelli, who finished the play with a roofed backhand into Pickard's net that blew the roof off Mullett Arena for a second time.

Connor Ingram kept it a one-goal lead for the Coyotes entering the second intermission with a quick pad stop on Leon Draisaitl with 15 seconds remaining, making a pad stop on the German in front after the puck popped out from below the goal line.

The Oilers had seven wins this season when trailing through two periods – tied for fifth in the NHL – and would have to come up with their eighth instance in the third period to deny the Coyotes the victory in their final game as a franchise.

THIRD PERIOD

The Coyotes fought and clawed until the end.

It was looking more and more like it'd by Arizona's night in their NHL send-off when Lawson Crouse broke through behind the Oilers defence 4:55 into the final frame, taking a freeing pass from Vladislav Kolyachonok and backhanding his effort past Pickard to restord the two-goal Arizona advantage.

Foegele, however, wasn't going to be denied the first 20-goal season of his career on a wicked when he cut in off an Oilers zone entry and let go of a wicked wrister that hit twine to cut back into the Coyotes' lead at 3-2 with 12 minutes left in the third.

"It's a little bit weird talking about it concerning we just lost, but the guys are unbelievable. Even just here after the game, we lost but a couple of guys congratulated me," Foegele said. "The team's more important, but just to hear that goes a long way."

It's been a career year for the forward, having already established new career highs in goals (20), assists (21) and points (41).

"A lot of tenacity and work ethic," Knoblauch said of Foegele. "For him to get to 20 goals is quite an accomplishment. And obviously, the team was very happy for him that he hit that milestone. He's just a guy who works really hard and gets rewarded with goals, and something he's really good at is down low in the offensive zone and taking the puck to the net. It was nice to see him get rewarded with that goal."

Broberg picked up the assist in his first game back with the Oilers off a strong sting in Bakersfield, having played 10 NHL games earlier this season and failing to pick up a point.

"I thought he played really well," Knoblauch said. "He moved the puck well a few times. He skated the puck out, which it's great that he has the confidence to do that. And then defensively, with his long reach and good skating, he broke up a lot of plays, so were very impressed. He hasn't played in the NHL for quite some time, but I thought it was a very good game."

But this always looked like a game that Arizona was destined to win, and the script shifted strongly in that direction on Arizona's final power play that was the result of a borderline holding penalty to Mattias Ekholm on Nick Schmaltz.

When the Coyotes do move to Utah, they'll have a plethora of young talent to grow their team around and a former Edmonton Oil King is a big part of that future under a new banner in Salt Lake City.

The forward went post-in from the left circle to put the Coytes ahead by two with 5:33 remaining, leading to the Oilers pulling their netminder early and Sean Durzi concluding Arizona's current chapter in the NHL with an empty-netter.

"I spent some time with Arizona a few years back," Pickard said. "I have nothing but good things to say about the organization and I loved my time here, but it was unfortunate we couldn't get the win. We're moving on to tomorrow."