The Arizona Coyotes look to avoid their 10th straight loss when they host the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Visiting Arizona had a pair of one-goal leads against the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday but couldn’t hold them and wound up with a 4-3 loss.
Matt Dumba had a goal and an assist and Matias Maccelli had two assists for the Coyotes, who are 0-8-1 in their past nine games. Karel Vejmelka made 33 saves for the Coyotes, who have been outscored 40-20 during the streak.
Lawson Crouse scored his 100th career goal and Logan Cooley also scored for Arizona.
“I’m super proud of the way the guys worked,” Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said. “We did a lot of good things and could not seal the deal. We’re in that kind of a slump right now where, whatever we do, there’s always a bad bounce or something, but I’m extremely proud of the effort of the boys.”
Both teams had goals disallowed after being called offside in the third period before Devon Toews scored to make it 4-3 at 13:25, and the Coyotes were unable to tie it.
“You play in this league to win games, and win you’re not winning, just everything feels bad,” Arizona forward Alex Kerfoot said. “There’s definitely some stuff we can build on, but at this point it’s about getting results.”
The last time the Coyotes lost 10 in a row was part of a 12-game skid that started at the end of the 2016-17 season and continued into the 2017-18 season.
The Coyotes come home, but things don’t get any easier as they face Edmonton and the Toronto Maple Leafs. On Saturday, Evan Bouchard’s second goal of the game 30 seconds into overtime lifted the visiting Oilers over the Dallas Stars 4-3.
Corey Perry had a goal and an assist and Calvin Pickard made 24 saves for the Oilers to record his sixth straight victory.
“We knew they were a good team. We had to play a really good game, and we did that,” Bouchard said. “That’s what makes us so special, we can compete against any team. Now we know what we have in here.”
Connor McDavid collected an assist to record his eighth consecutive 60-assist season, which marks the second-longest streak in NHL history behind Wayne Gretzky (13 seasons, 1979-80 to 1991-92).
In games that have gone beyond regulation, the Oilers have won six in a row but have alternated wins and losses over their past seven games. They will look to end that stretch Monday.
After a scoreless first period, the Oilers and Stars combined for six goals in the second period followed by a scoreless third period before Bouchard’s overtime winner, his 14th goal of the season.
“He’s been playing really well,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said of Bouchard. “(Saturday) was probably his best game I’ve seen him play for the last couple of weeks and he’s very dangerous when he has the puck.”
One area of concern for the Oilers is their penalty kill. Edmonton has allowed two goals on the power play in each of its last four road games.
The teams are meeting for the first time this season and will play twice in the final week of the season.
–Field Level Media
