Mikkel Boedker nets game-winner as Coyotes edge Oilers
You can add Devan Dubnyk's name to the lengthy list of former Edmonton Oilers who have come back to haunt them.
Dubnyk made 33 saves and Mikkel Boedker scored the game winner as the Arizona Coyotes defeated the Oilers 2-1 on Sunday night.
"It does (feel good)," said Dubnyk, who began last season as the Oilers starting goalie prior to being traded away in January and signing as a free agent in Arizona.
"I tried not to think about it too much and tried to build off of my last game and things I did well. That helped take away from the situation and not letting it get to me."
Brandon Gormley also scored for the Coyotes (8-9-1), who have put together back-to-back victories after dropping three in a row.
"He was solid, just like the other night," said Coyotes head coach Dave Tippett of Dubnyk, who was coming off a shutout win over Vancouver. "We blocked a lot of shots in front of him, but just like the other night, he was big and solid in the net and gave us another real strong game.
"Our penalty killing did a heck of a job, blocked a lot of shots, got in a lot of lanes. It was kind of an ugly road game that we'll take the points and move on."
Taylor Hall replied for the Oilers (6-10-2), who have lost three straight and have yet to defeat a Western Conference opponent this season, falling to 0-8-1 in the conference. Twenty of Edmonton's next 23 games are against the West.
"It was a close game for the most part," Hall said. "It was just one of those game where we were just a bounce away from being there, but those are the games we have to find a way to win somehow."
Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins said he was pleased with the overall effort.
"It was one of those nights where it's hard to look at anybody in our lineup and fault them, say they had an off game or anything like that," he said. "When you get into games like that, the difference is who's going to drive the net, who's going to get to the net and who's going to find the greasy goals."
Edmonton's best opportunity to score early came with 7:30 remaining in the first period. Oiler center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins almost had a short-handed breakaway, but Dubnyk came out of his net to knock the puck away.
"I never thought he was going to beat me to it," Dubnyk said. "But I thought we were going to get there at the same time. I thought I was going to get clocked."
Arizona capitalized on the same power play just over a minute later as Gormley fired a shot from the top of the circle through traffic and past Oilers starter Ben Scrivens. It was Gormley's first NHL goal.
Edmonton outshot the Coyotes 15-8 through 20 minutes. Scrivens made 26 saves in a losing cause.
The Coyotes return home for one game against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday before heading out on the road for three games. The Oilers play the third game of a five-game home stand on Wednesday against the Vancouver Canucks.
NOTES: It was the second of five games between the Oilers and Coyotes this season. Arizona won the first encounter 7-4 on Oct. 15 The Coyotes entered the game on a 14-game point streak against the Oilers. That ties a team record for the longest point streak against the same opponent in franchise history. The Coyotes last lost in regulation to Edmonton on Jan. 25, 2011... Hall returned to the Oilers lineup after being out the past six games with a strained knee... Arizona forward David Moss was out with an upper body injury...The Oilers were completely healthy for the first time this season... It was Oilers' head coach Dallas Eakins' 100th career game behind the bench. His record is 35-54-11.
