Oilers clipped by Coyotes 5-4 in OT

Edmonton's Robert Nilsson tries to out-manoever Phoenix's Zbynek Michalek during Tuesday's night's game at Rexall Place. The Coyotes defeated the Oilers 5-4 in overtime. (Photo by Dylan Lynch / Edmonton Oilers Hockey Club)

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PRE-GAME

Preview Game Notes Head-to-Head Stats Comparison Game Program Video interviews Audio Interviews

PHOTOS

Click here for the photo gallery

VIDEO

Watch the highlights Patrick O'Sullivan, Sheldon Souray, Sam Gagner, Denis Grebeshkov & Pat Quinn on the game The Other Side: Ed Jovanovski, Paul Bissonnette & Dave Tippett

AUDIO

Audio Highlights Patrick O'Sullivan Sheldon Souray Denis Grebeshkov Sam Gagner Fernando Pisani Pat Quinn

THREE STARS

Patrick O'Sullivan, EDM - 1g, 1a + 5 shots Paul Bissonnette, PHX - 2a Sam Gagner, EDM - 1a + 7 shots

UPDATE

With the lone point earned, the Oilers now have 37 points with a 16-22-5 record. They are two points shy of Anaheim & Columbus, who share 13th spot in the Western Conference.

WHAT'S NEXT

Edmonton hosts Columbus Thursday, January 7 at 7:00pm. Click here for tickets or watch the game live on Rogers Sportsnet West.

by Jen Sharpe | edmontonoilers.com

The Oilers found themselves down two goals twice, but quick comebacks paid off on both occasions and eventually resulted in overtime. But a penalty to recent returnee Fernando Pisani put the home team on the penalty kill early in sudden death and the visitors capitalized, with Shane Doan firing home the game-winner.

Gilbert Brule, Patrick O'Sullivan, Denis Grebeshkov & Dustin Penner scored for Edmonton, while goalie Jeff Deslauriers stopped 25 shots in the overtime loss.

FIRST PERIOD

Phoenix dominated the first half of the first, firing nine shots on Jeff Deslauriers while Edmonton managed only five on Ilya Bryzgalov at the opposite end of the ice.

At 12:14, coincidental roughing minors to Ryan Stone and James Vandermeer initiated two minutes of four-on-four, and less than 20 seconds in, the Coyotes capitalized on the open ice. On a neutral-zone face-off, Radim Vrbata got the puck and broke in on Deslauriers. His five-hole shot slipped past the goalie, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead.

Three minutes after the goal, a hooking minor to Denis Grebeshkov gave the Coyotes the opportunity to double their lead on the powerplay, but the Oil killed the man-advantage to stay within one.

The Coyotes closed out 20 minutes with a one-goal, two-shot lead.

SECOND PERIOD

14 seconds into the middle frame, the Oilers got a taste of powerplay when Zbynek Michalek hooked Dustin Penner. Although the home team couldn't beat Bryzgalov, they added five attempts to take the shot lead.

While Edmonton couldn't capitalize on the five-on-four, Phoenix lit the lamp a second time with both clubs at even strength. At 7:38, Deslauriers stopped Vernon Fiddler's initial shot but Shane Doan pounced on the rebound to put the 'Yotes up 2-0.

The Oilers persevered and topped 20 shots after the goal, but it would take 23 and a third Coyotes infraction for the club to get a goal. From the left dot, Gilbert Brule slapped home his 11th of the season to get his club back within one on the powerplay.

Two minutes later, Patrick O'Sullivan closed the gap by capping a partial breakaway with a top-shelf backhander. But in the following four minutes, Phoenix cracked their lead back open with goals by Martin Hanzal and Petr Prucha.

Despite tallying twice as many shots as their opponents in the second period, the Oilers were down two goals heading into the final frame.

THIRD PERIOD

The Oilers hit 30 shots and the Coyotes 20 in the first two minutes of the third. At the five-minute mark, Stortini took his second consecutive boarding penalty and the Coyotes managed to sink the puck for a fifth time, but due to goaltender interference the goal was disallowed.

Finding themselves down by two for the second time, the Oilers clawed their way back to a tie -- for the second time. At 8:10, Grebeshkov cut in and scored on a snapshot, then 49 seconds later, Penner established himself in front of Bryzgalov and plugged home his 20th of the season to make it 4-4.

With seven minutes left in regulation, Edmonton's expert shot-blocker Steve Staios was nailed with the puck behind the knee. The defenceman immediately collapsed and required help from trainer Chris Davie to leave the ice.

Edmonton topped 40 shots but couldn't find a fifth goal before the end of regulation, and the game headed to overtime.

OVERTIME

Early in sudden death, Fernando PIsani sat himself out for two minutes by taking a tripping minor. Less than a minute into the powerplay, Doan found a hole in Deslauriers' armour and picked it, sealing a 5-4 OT win for the Coyotes Tuesday night.