Coyotes 4, Oilers 0
EDMONTON, Alberta -- Arizona goaltender Mike Smith looked like he'd never been gone.
In his first game back after missing three months with a sports hernia injury, Smith backstopped the Coyotes to a 4-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night at Rexall Place.
At the other end of the ice, Antoine Vermette had two goals and an assist in the win.
Smith, who needed surgery to repair his injury, had been practicing hard for a couple of weeks and declared himself ready to play. And he was, delivering the win for the Coyotes in a game where they were outshot 44-29.
It was the perfect launching pad for a rusty goalie, given the Coyotes are 18-0-4 in their last 22 games against the Oilers and Smith is 12-1-1 against them.
But he had to work for it.
With the Coyotes a little sluggish after playing Friday night in Calgary, Edmonton applied early pressure. The Oilers outshot the Coyotes 12-5 in the first period, but Smith held the fort until his teammates got their legs under them.
When they did, Viktor Tikhonov scored on a first-period deflection and Vermette and Alex Tanguay added goals in the second period for a 3-0 lead after 40 minutes.
Edmonton pressed hard again in the third period, but Smith stopped a Taylor Hall breakaway and closed out the win.
The Oilers continued their struggles at home. They are 4-2-1 in their last seven road games and 1-6-0 in their last seven home games.
Edmonton remained last in the Western Conference at 27-37-7. The Coyotes are 30-32-7.
NOTES: Oilers C Ryan Nugent-Hopkins returned to the lineup on Saturday after missing nearly two months with a broken hand. No sooner did he return than the Oilers lost two more players to injury: LW Matt Hendricks, who is day to day with shoulder trouble and D Adam Pardy, who is out two weeks with an undisclosed injury. ... Edmonton is second in the NHL in man games lost to injury with 300 games. ... The Coyotes got G Mike Smith back Saturday. He had been out since Dec. 8 with a core muscle injury. ... The Coyotes are still without D Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who's been out three games with an undisclosed injury. ... The Coyotes came into the game with a 17-0-4 record in their last 21 games against the Oilers. ... The Oilers are 25th in the NHL in faceoff winning percentage (49.1). Arizona is first (54.1).