I thought the key to the game would be special teams.  I was dead on, but in the wrong direction.  The Oilers couldn't stay out of the penalty box and couldn't draw penalties to stay even and of course, the Coyotes punished them for it.  In other recurring news, the Oilers tipped two more pucks behind their goaltender tonight, bringing their season total to 8 in 12 games.  Even though the shot-blocking is celebrated, the downside of trying to stop every shot is that those tips leave the goaltender exposed.

3-8-1 now and the playoffs aren't going to happen.  They need points like a #4 seed from here out and they've already made one Eastern Conference swing.  Without a Maple Leafs-sized horseshoe, the postseason remains a dream.

The Coyotes View

Corsi

Fenwick And Deployment

Scoring Chances

Final chance count: 19-16; 2-4 ST

— Dennis King (@DKingBH) October 26, 2013

Shift Chart

The Good

David Perron had six shots on goal - his third consecutive game with six shots on goal. I noted how much he's been shooting in the preview, but he was everywhere and his minutes with Ales Hemsky were phenomenal.  Perron reads and feeds off of Hemsky like no left wing since Dustin Penner.  They are a joy to watch.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was also outstanding in this one, and seemed to be everywhere.  So much so that the official scorer thought he was Jordan Eberle on the Perron goal.  It was later corrected.

Except for the shift they had to take against Shane Doan's line, the fourth line played a nice game again.  They spent extended time in the offensive zone on two shifts and snagged a goal later.

Tyler Pitlick came out playing well, and seemed to be the game's best forechecker early before injuring his knee.

The Bad

Mark Arcobello had his worst game of the season.  He wasn't in the game at all in the defensive end early and he was floating for the entire game.  But what are you going to do?  After a bunch of good ones in a row, he's due for a bad night.

Tyson Nash spent the entire game paying homage to the dump-in as a "real NHL play", and it wasn't sarcastic.  He talked about it's superiority and how the game used to be about carrying it in, but no more.  It was agonizingly bad.

Watching hockey was so much better when Ryan Jones was in Oklahoma City.  I'll recap Jones' performance in picture form:

The Copper & Blue Three Stars:

★★★ -  Tyler Pitlick

★★ - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

★ - David Perron