Edmonton Oilers vs. Phoenix Coyotes

The Phoenix Coyotes (2-4-0) will vie for their second straight win when they take on the Edmonton Oilers (3-2-0) on Wednesday.
Phoenix finally looked like the team that played in the Western Conference finals last season when it took down Nashville 4-0. Antoine Vermette opened the scoring at the three minute mark of the first and Lauri Korpikovski, Nick Johnson, and Keith Yandle added tallies to close out the score. Chad Johnson pitched the shutout and could see more time in goal in light of Mike Smith and Jason LaBarbara's recent struggles. Like Smith, Johnson was let go by his original club (NY Rangers) and may see Phoenix as an opportunity to start anew.

The Edmonton Oilers have had a solid start to their season and are in a battle for first place in the Northwest division. The offense was expected to be a major factor for Edmonton this season and it has not disappointed thus far. The young guns have all pitched in with Taylor Hall leading the team with seven points. Jordan Eberle has scored six points while rookie defenseman Justin Schultz has five. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has not scored a goal yet but has four assists while 2012 first overall pick Nail Yakupov has three goals in six games. In their most recent match, the Oilers destroyed the Colorado Avalanche 4-1.
Phoenix swept the season series last year four games to none.

One thing the Edmonton Oilers will have to learn from their 4-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night is how to protect a lead in the third period without giving up as many chances. The Oilers were outshot 24-5 in the final period but that was about the only thing wrong for the young group on the night. Their power play has so many weapons and they came together nicely to make the Avalanche pay for taking trips to the box. Ales Hemsky got things going with his second goal of the season to put the Oilers up 1-0 in the first period, and less than three minutes later Jordan Eberle added his third goal of the year with the man advantage. Edmonton out shot Colorado 14-3 over the first 20 minutes of play. Midway through the second period it was the veteran Shawn Horcoff’s turn to capitalize with the extra skater on. His first goal of the season made it a 3-0 lead as the Oilers cruised to victory. They now sit at 3-2-0 on the season and have a chance to make a statement against a Phoenix Coyotes club that made it to the Western Conference Finals last season. Devan Dubnyk made the start in net and stopped 37 shots to pick up his third victory of the season. Taylor Hall and Sam Gagner each recorded two assists on the night.
The Phoenix Coyotes needed a win in the worst way and they got it Monday night when they hosted the Nashville Predators. Both of these teams headed into the meeting struggle in the early going this season. The Coyotes were starting back up Chad Johnson in net and they came out and really played a great game in front of him. Antoine Vermette got the Coyotes on the board with his third goal of the season as he continues his excellent play for Phoenix. That would be all Johnson would need on the night as he stopped all 21 shots he faced from a lifeless Nashville club. Lauri Korpikoski scored his third goal of the season in the second period to double the lead for the home club, and Nick Johnson and Keith Yandle finished the scoring in the third. Phoenix’s 4-0 win was just their second victory of the season and now they host a young and hungry Edmonton club that’s playing confident hockey.
Edmonton is 1-10 the last 11 meetings between these two teams and 1-6 their last seven trips to Phoenix. The Over is 39-14-2 the last 55 meetings and 20-6-2 the last 28 meetings in Arizona. Edmonton has gotten off to a great start, and it’s been a bit of a slow one for Phoenix. Still, the Coyotes have owned the Oilers recently in this series and Edmonton still has a lot to prove going forward.