Coyotes post a shutout against Edmonton to get much-needed win

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Jason Demers, who have made up the Arizona Coyotes’ top defensive pairing for most of this season, were both out on Tuesday.

That’s troublesome when facing two of the most dangerous offensive players in the world, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, of the Edmonton Oilers. But the Coyotes prevailed, winning 3-0 on home ice behind a shutout from goaltender Antti Raanta.

Coyotes defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin flattening Draisaitl at one point with an open-ice hit was probably not that significant, all things considered, but it epitomized what went right for a slumping Arizona team on Tuesday against the Oilers: the Coyotes had their wits about them defensively.

“The team made my life easier,” Raanta said. “Even though they have the skillful guys, we pretty much kept them outside. They only got a couple chances, usually on the power play. When you can get a 3-0 against that kind of offensive team, that really gives credit for the whole team and how we defended today.”

Raanta got his 13th career shutout on 30 saves just a game after losing in the shootout. On Saturday against the Blackhawks, Raanta made highlight reel saves to keep his team in the game but ultimately lost in the shootout. He got the result he wanted on Tuesday against Edmonton.

“I think it’s kind of a trickle-down effect,” defenseman Alex Goligoski said. “We played solid in front of him to start the game, he got comfortable and he made some great saves on some deflection stuff. Obviously that power play is pretty deadly, and he was dialed in. You could see it from the drop of the puck.”

From Raanta to all the forwards and all the defensemen, the Coyotes’ win was a team win.

Arizona got out to a good start and began generating scoring chances early. In the second period, Taylor Hall made a highly-accurate pass to find the stick blade of Conor Garland on the doorstep, giving Garland a tap-in for his team-leading 18th goal of the season (and Hall’s 30th assist).

Later in that same period, a goal came from defensive effort: Lawson Crouse was defending on a penalty kill and blocked a shot, popping the puck out of the zone to start a 2-on-1 shorthanded chance for Arizona. Crouse looked to pass to Vinnie Hinostroza on the other side, but the pass went off the Edmonton defenseman and in for a goal to make it 2-0 Coyotes.

Christian Dvorak scored an empty-netter late to make it a 3-0 final score.

Entering the game, the Coyotes were 0-3-2 in their last five games and had only one win in the last nine. But a win against the Oilers, combined with Calgary losing to San Jose, means Arizona moves into first place in the Western Conference Wild Card standings. Losses in extra time the last two games also earned the Coyotes points in the standings.

Players huddled for a meeting on Tuesday as the losses have piled up.

“I think it was an accountability meeting,” head coach Rick Tocchet said. “Whether you play 10 minutes or 18 minutes, you give your best, and I think we got that tonight. I thought the attitude on the bench was really good tonight. We’re going to need that — it’s not just once in a while, we need it every night if we’re going to go anywhere.”

QUICK HITS

— Shots were 30-27 Edmonton. Mikko Koskinen was in goal for the Oilers.

— Ekman-Larsson and Demers are day-to-day with lower-body injuries. The Coyotes recalled Aaron Ness from the Tucson Roadrunners on Tuesday.

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