Oilers rally past Coyotes for OT win
EDMONTON, Alberta -- Matt Benning scored with 5:35 left in regulation to tie the game, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored on a breakaway with 39.8 seconds left in overtime to lift the Edmonton Oilers past the Arizona Coyotes 3-2 on Tuesday night.
The Oilers rallied to win the battle between the bottom two teams in the Western Conference.
Christian Fischer scored in the first period and Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored in the second for Arizona, and Max Domi had two assists.
Zack Kassian scored in the first period for Edmonton. Benning also had an assist.
The Coyotes (6-17-4) came into the game in 31st place in the 31-team league, but they had won four of their previous six games. The wildly inconsistent Oilers (10-13-2) were looking to win two games in a row for just the second time this season.
As usual, the Oilers fell behind early. Fischer scored on a goalmouth scramble at 6:22 of the opening period, marking the 17th time in 25 games that Edmonton gave up the first goal of the game.
The Oilers, despite looking sloppy and disjointed in the first period, managed to get that one back on a Kassian breakaway at 16:30 and had to feel very good about escaping the first period with a 1-1 tie.
The game bogged down to chess-match speed in the second period, with the Oilers not getting their 10th shot of the game until the 30-minute mark.
Arizona managed to pull ahead, though, with Larsson scoring on a power play at 19:11 to give the visitors a 2-1 lead with 20 minutes to go.
Edmonton pressed hard in the third and finally broke through on Benning's goal at 14:25.
Oilers goalie Cam Talbot made 29 saves for the win, while Coyotes goalie Scott Wedgewood stopped 24 shots.
NOTES: The Coyotes recalled and dressed C Dylan Strome, the third pick overall from the 2015 NHL Draft, from their AHL Tucson affiliate. He faced off against his brother C Ryan Strome, who is in his first year with the Oilers. Dylan also played junior hockey with Oilers C Connor McDavid. ... McDavid has factored in on nearly 47 percent of Edmonton's goals this season. ... Coyotes starting G Antti Raanta didn't make the trip to Edmonton. He is nursing an undisclosed injury. ... Oilers D Darnell Nurse has played 25 minutes or more six times this season after never reaching that mark all of last season. ... The Coyotes have scored the first goal in 15 of 26 games this year (second best in the NHL).