On Wednesday night, what started in 1996 in downtown Phoenix, ended on a college rink in Tempe.
In what appears to be the final NHL game in Arizona (at least for the time being), the Edmonton Oilers (49-25-6) came into Mullett Arena to take on the Arizona Coyotes (35-41-5).
With only 75 points for the season, the Coyotes will not be making the playoffs, and Coyotes fans found out Monday that the franchise would most likely move to Utah after the season.
Arizona coach André Tourigny made a point to reporters about the team’s effort in their last game.
“We want to make sure we are remembered as a group who fought with every last ounce we have in our body.”
Cheering Coyote’s fans remained standing from the puck drop, into the opening minutes of the game.
Just as the noise began to wane, it surged again when Coyote’s tough guy Liam O’Brien scored from an unexpected bounce off the referee’s foot at 2:18 into the game.
Later in the first period, Evan Bouchard, who is top three in assists (63) among NHL defensemen, helped produce the tying goal for the Oilers, receiving and immediately feeding the puck backdoor to Sam Carrick.
The second period started with the Coyotes shutting down the Oilers power play that is fourth best in the league (26.1%).
In the last five minutes of an otherwise quiet period, Matias Maccelli notched his 17th goal of the season on a breakaway, assisted by Jack McBain and Aku Raty, who became the third Coyote player this season to record a point in their NHL debut (Doan & Cooley).
Just five minutes into the third a failed Oilers rush led to a backdoor by Vladislav Kolyachonok to Lawson Crouse, giving him his 23rd goal of the season and the Coyotes a 3-1 lead.
Just a little more than three minutes later Warren Foegele sniped it from the slot, beating Arizona goalie Connor Ingram high glove. Putting Edmonton back within one.
The Coyotes answered back on the power play, following a Mattias Ekholm penalty, Clayton Keller found Dylan Guenther in the high slot who ripped it home to extend the lead to two.
With a two-goal deficit and four minutes left in regulation, Edmonton chose to pull their goalie extra early, which led to almost an immediate empty-net goal by Arizona defenseman Sean Durzi and a 5-2 victory.
After the game, more than triple the usual number of media members went into the locker room for statements from a team that seems to have played their last game in Arizona.
Clayton Keller talked about the team’s impact on the youth in the community.
“It’s definitely tough we are leaving, there are a lot of young kids that look up to us… they are always supporting us, staying after game, practices,” Keller said. “When I was a kid, I remember Barret Jackman gave me a puck and I wore #5 for a couple years after that—anytime you can have an impact in the community…that’s something I always try to do.”
Logan Cooley spoke about the sudden news of the team leaving Arizona.
“Yeah it all came pretty fast, I planned on leaving all my clothes and stuff here thinking I was going to come back and have another year in the desert but obviously that’s not the way it went,” Cooley said.
Josh Doan, who grew up in Arizona and is son of Coyote legend Shane Doan, who now works for the Toronto Maple Leafs, talked about how the last few weeks had played out.
“My dad came back tonight. The plan for him was to come back, he said I’m being there the rest of the year, and being involved in the playoffs over in Toronto—for him to come back and go out of his way to do that shows how much it means to him,” Doan said.
He also spoke about being a Coyotes fan himself.
“A lot of it is like family being a part of it, obviously I was a fan growing up and I’ll always be a fan of the Coyotes, that’s kinda how I was brought up. I chose to cheer for the Coyotes because it was my team, not only because my dad played for them… I’ll support any Arizona team.”
The Arizona Coyotes close out their season, and 28-year tenure, with a win.
