Tobias Rieder leads Arizona Coyotes past his former team: By the Numbers
Dec 2, 2014, 5:17 AM | Updated: 5:36 am
The Edmonton Oilers gave up on Tobias Rieder.
On Mar. 29, 2013, the Oilers shipped their former fourth round pick to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for Kale Kessy, a fighter and grinder with little offensive skill. It was a my flawed prospect for your flawed prospect type of deal — one just wasn’t as flawed.
While Kessy toils away in the minors, Rieder took it upon himself to lead his new team past his old team, as he scored a pair of goals in the Coyotes’ 5-2 win over the Oilers on Monday night.
Arizona finally found its offensive game, led in no small part by Rieder’s two short-handed goals. In addition to the rookie’s strong performance, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Mikkel Boedker and Martin Erat also potted goals as the Coyotes scored five goals for the first time since Nov. 14, a 5-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks.
The Coyotes fell behind early, but came out strong in the second period with a four-goal effort to put the team in front for good.
Friday’s victory was a crucial one for Arizona as it snapped a three-game losing streak. The Coyotes are trying to keep pace in the very tough Western Conference, and another loss would have further jeopardized their chances of clawing back to .500.
Here’s a look at Monday’s win by the numbers:
1st (Part I)
Tobias Rieder’s first short-handed goal was the Coyotes’ first shortie of the season. Arizona entered the night as one of only six teams without a short-handed goal.
1st (Part II)
Reider’s goal was another first for the Coyotes — the team’s first goal in more than six periods of play. Arizona exploded for a four-goal second period to break their scoreless streak.
2
Rieder is the first rookie to score two short-handed goals in a game since Colorado’s Ryan O’Reilly did it on Feb. 2, 2010. It was the first multi-goal game of German forward’s career.
4
Arizona scored four special teams goals on Monday night, two short-handed and two on the power play. The Coyotes’ PP and PK units each excelled as the team went 2-for-3 with the man advantage and 4-for-5 on the kill.
8
Mikkel Boedker owns the Oilers. After scoring four goals in two games against Edmonton earlier in the season, Boedker scored another one on Monday night. He now has eight goals in his last seven games against the Oilers.
10 (Part I)
Edmonton can’t buy a win right now. They sit at the bottom of the Pacific Division and Western Conference after losing 10 games in a row (0-7-3).
10 (Part II)
Ten different Coyotes found the scoresheet against the Oilers. Two of those 10 (Boedker and Rieder) scored multiple points.
16
Boedker may own the Oilers, but the team as a whole has feasted on their Pacific Division rival to the North as of late. The Coyotes have earned at least a point in 16 consecutive games against Edmonton.