The host Edmonton Oilers attempt to stretch their win streak to four games when they entertain the Arizona Coyotes on Friday night.
Edmonton (48-24-5, 101 points) is trying to keep pace with the Vancouver Canucks (105 points) atop the Pacific Division. The Oilers, who are 6-1-1 over their last eight games, have two games in hand on the Canucks.
The Oilers enter Friday’s contest following a 5-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday night.
Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman each had a goal and an assist for Edmonton, which played without captain Connor McDavid (lower-body injury), who was third in the league in points (130) through Wednesday.
“When you’re missing the best player in the world, you don’t try to replace him,” Hyman said. “Everyone as a group has to step up and play better and, collectively, I thought it was one of our better games of the season.
“Everyone was on the same page. It’s amazing when you’re connected how much faster you are as a team.”
Draisaitl has two goals and three assists over his last three games, while forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has one goal and four assists in his last two games and blue-liner Mattias Ekholm has three goals and two helpers over his last five contests.
Goaltender Stuart Skinner is 35-14-5 with a 2.59 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage in 56 games this season. He won his only start against the Coyotes this season, making 22 saves in a 6-3 Oilers win on Feb. 19.
Friday is the first of two meetings between the clubs in six days. Edmonton visits Arizona on Wednesday to conclude the season series.
The Coyotes (34-40-5, 73 points) will look to string together back-to-back victories following a 4-3 overtime win against the Canucks on Wednesday.
Logan Cooley and Vladislav Kolyachonok each had a goal and an assist, and Dylan Guenther added a goal and three helpers in the win for the Coyotes.
Arizona improved to 6-4-0 over its last 10 games amid rumors the team could be sold and relocated to Salt Lake City.
“It’s always tough when media is going around saying we’re going to be here, we’re going to be there,” Cooley said. “Honestly, we just need to stick together as a group, and that’s what we did. There’s no quit in our team all year, whether that was when we were going through that losing streak, the arena news — it’s a pretty special group we have, and it’s fun to compete out there and battle with those guys.”
Clayton Keller, who saw his 11-game point streak snapped in a loss in Seattle on Tuesday, has eight goals and 10 assists in his last 13 games. Guenther has three goals and four helpers over his last five.
Netminder Connor Ingram is 22-20-3 this season with a 2.86 GAA and a .909 save percentage in 48 games. Ingram is winless in three career games against the Oilers (0-2-1) with an .832 save percentage and a 5.31 GAA.
Friday is the fourth game of a five-game road trip for the Coyotes, which will wrap up on Sunday in Calgary.
–Field Level Media
