The Edmonton Oilers were defeated 3-2 in overtime by the Arizona Coyotes on Friday (April 12) at Rogers Place. They failed to make a big move in the Pacific Division race by coming up short against a team that many believe Edmonton should have easily beaten.
Matias Maccelli scored the game-winner, firing the puck past Oilers netminder Calvin Pickard at 1:35 of sudden death. Logan Cooley and Josh Doan also tallied for the Coyotes, while Adam Henrique and Darnell Nurse had Edmonton’s goals.
The Oilers played their second consecutive game without captain Connor McDavid, who is recovering from a lower-body injury sustained in a game against the Calgary Flames last Saturday (April 6).
A victory over the Coyotes would have pulled Edmonton within two points of the Pacific-leading Vancouver Canucks, who the Oilers host tonight. Edmonton has four games remaining on its schedule, while the Canucks will play three more times before the 2023-24 regular season wraps up next Thursday (April 18).
The Oilers were expected to skate away with two points on Friday, considering their opponent is near the bottom of the Western Conference standings. The Coyotes were also playing with heavy minds after being informed by Arizona general manager Bill Armstrong that the team is moving to Salt Lake City for the 2024-25 season.
But despite the disappointing outcome, there is a bright side for Edmonton, thanks to the Oilers rallying from deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 to at least get one point from an overtime loss.
Oilers Secure Home Advantage
That single point is significant for two reasons. First, it extends Edmonton’s lead to seven points over the third-place Los Angeles Kings, who with just three games remaining are now unable to catch the Oilers.
By assuring themselves of finishing no worse than second in the Pacific, the Oilers will have home ice advantage in the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. That’s massive for a team that is 26-4-3 at Rogers Place since Kris Knoblauch replaced Jay Woodcroft as Oilers head coach on Nov. 12.
Edmonton has finished second in the Pacific Division each of the last two seasons and had home advantage in their first round series victories over the Kings in 2022 and 2023.
Since 1992, the only postseason series the Oilers have lost in which they held home advantage came in 2020, to the Chicago Blackhawks, and 2021, to the Winnipeg Jets, both of which were played without fans in attendance because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Oilers Have Fate in Their Hands
The second reason that point is so critical is that Edmonton still controls its destiny with respect to finishing atop the Pacific Division standings.
Related: Oilers Can Still Overtake Canucks For 1st in Pacific: Here’s How
Edmonton has 102 points, while the Canucks have 105 points. If the Oilers go 4-0-0 the rest of the season, they will finish with 110 points. Because the Canucks only have two games remaining after tonight, a regulation loss to Edmonton would mean their maximum point total is 109.
Should both Edmonton and Vancouver finish with the same number of points, the tiebreaker will most likely go to the Canucks, who currently hold the advantage over Edmonton in regulation wins (RW), games won excluding shootout (ROW) and points earned in head-to-head games.
Oilers Missing McDavid
Including a 5-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday (April 10), Edmonton has now picked up three of a possible four points in these last two games without its captain.
But while the Oilers had a top-to-bottom effort from start to finish in their impressive victory over the defending Stanley Cup champions two nights earlier, they were lackluster for too much of Friday’s game against Arizona. With McDavid in the lineup, Edmonton might very well have been able to get away with a subpar effort against an inferior Coyotes team. But the loss to Arizona showed not only how much the Oilers miss the five-time Art Ross Trophy winner, but perhaps most importantly, the level his teammates must play for the team to succeed in McDavid’s absence.
That’s a lesson the Oilers must take to heart going into their game against Vancouver, otherwise the result could short-circuit Edmonton’s first-place hopes. Not only are the Canucks a much tougher opponent, but there’s no word yet whether McDavid will be back in the lineup tonight.