Coyotes win finale of troubled season, 5-2, over Oilers Who knows what happens next for itinerate franchise

Posted on by

On Wednesday night, there were four games in the NHL.  None had any significance on final standings in their respective divisions, conferences or league ladders.

There was one, in Tempe, that had some significance as possibly reportedly the final match for the Coyotes in the state of Arizona. The Coyotes are said to be moving to Salt Lake City for the 2024-25 season. Leaving behind a trail of failed ownership groups, and incompetence in running a team. Tough very competent at running them into the desert sand of the American Southwest. The NHL ranks sixth of the top five sports in the US, in Arizona.

The NHL has made no formal announcement on the Coyotes moving leaving it to social media to gin up the move and the angst around the team leaving the Phoenix area.

“It was emotional,” Clayton Keller said. “It was a little different today, it was the last one and it was right there in black and white.”

Wednesday night was one last hurrah for the Coyotes and their fans as they skated int the NHL’s best sweaters.

Connor Ingram made 28 saves in a 5-2 win for the Coyotes over the visiting Edmonton Oilers.

“It was great to finish the season off on a high note,” Coyotes forward Josh Doan said

The Coyotes moved to 36-41-5 off their fifth win of the last seven games of the season.

“We finished strong, in tough environments against top teams,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. “Everybody played with structure, we played with heart.”

The Coyotes took a 1-0 lead when Liam O’Brien scored at 2:18 of the opening stanza.

The Oilers replied with a strike by Sam Carrick at 13:06, scoring off a deflection.

Scoring off a breakaway, Matias Maccelli pushed the Coyotes into a 2-1 lead at 15:05 of the middle frame.

The Oilers dropped to 49-26-6 off their third loss in four games.

“We’re looking forward to the playoffs and I think the guys’ hearts were in it, we executed OK,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “I don’t think there were core players throwing the pucks away or not working hard, it just wasn’t total engagement.”

The Coyotes’ Lawson Crouse stretched the lead to 3-1, scoring from the left circle at 4:55 of the third period.

Warren Foegele closed the gap to 3-2 at 8:0.

“We just lost, but the guys are unbelievable,” Foegele said. “We had a couple of guys congratulating me and, obviously, the team’s more important, but just to hear that goes a long way.”

Dylan Guenther  scored off the power play at 14:27 to give the Coyotes a 4-2 lead, scoring off a shot from the blue line.

Sean Durzi hit an empty net at 15:45 made it a 5-2 final count in Tempe.

“Obviously these games are a little bit tougher [because] we know where we stand going into the playoffs,” Oilers goalie Calvin Pickard said. “We’re trying to do the right things because the playoffs are right around the corner.”

Pickard made 19 saves in the loss.

“We knew what we were going to get in terms of them being fired up, playing in front of their fans tonight,” Pickard said. “It wasn’t a great start for us. … Give them credit, their skill went to work for them on a few of those goals. We’ll learn from it. Obviously we want to be playing the right way going into the playoffs.”