By Canadian Press

Conor Garland scores twice, Coyotes beat Oilers 3-2

Jan 12, 2019 | 8:45 PM

EDMONTON — Conor Garland didn’t even need his stick to be a major factor in the Arizona Coyotes’ win over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.

Garland recorded a pair of power-play goals — including one that went in off his face and left him bloodied, and then another off his skate — as the Coyotes came away with a 3-2 victory over the Oilers.

“I wasn’t too sure what hit me,” said Garland, who needed 10 stitches after the puck got him above the left eye. “I knew I got hit and then I saw the blood and as I was going off the ice, someone yelled ‘nice goal,’ so that’s when I realized. Then it was on the TV in the medical room, so I got to see it.

“It was pain, but more I was wondering where the blood was coming from. I don’t know how to describe it, I have to go the net if I want to play in this league and get some goals from the blue paint. That’s the way it has to be.”

Jordan Oesterle also scored for the Coyotes (20-21-3), who have won three games in a row.

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“I thought everybody contributed tonight, there were no passengers,” said Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet. “After we scored those two goals, we could tell we got a little more confidence. We rolled the four lines and everybody contributed tonight.”

Connor McDavid and Kris Russell scored for the Oilers (21-21-3), who have lost nine of their last 12.

“We had a couple of bad bounces, obviously,” McDavid said. “One goes off a guy’s face and the other one bounces back into the slot off of the end boards. You can’t just blame it on that. We could have been better, for sure.”

The Oilers kicked things off seven minutes into the opening period when McDavid fought off a pair of defenders to go in on a breakaway, making no mistake to beat Coyotes goalie Darcy Kuemper for his 27th goal of the season.

Arizona tied the game up just over a minute into the second period on a one-timer from the point by Oesterle that beat Edmonton starter Cam Talbot, a goal that survived a video review for a suspected offside.

The Oilers took a penalty for challenging that goal and the Coyotes made them pay on a scary play as a point shot struck Garland in the face when he was in the crease and went into the net. Garland was pouring blood as he taken to the dressing room, but would return to the game later on.

Edmonton tied the game with three minutes left in the middle frame as the puck came out front to a pinching Russell, who waited for Kuemper to go down before scoring his second of the season.

Garland came back for the third and got his second goal of the game on a power play a couple of minutes when as the puck went off his skate to count as his sixth goal in his last four games.

The Coyotes conclude a three-game Western Canadian road swing in Calgary on Sunday, while the Oilers next play host to the Buffalo Sabres on Monday.

Notes: The Coyotes have been riddled with injuries this season, coming into the game with 210 man-games lost to injury or illness this season, the third-most in the NHL. Among those out for Saturday’s game included Christian Dvorak (upper body), Jason Demers (upper body), Antti Raanta (lower body), Michael Grabner (upper body), Nick Schmaltz (lower body) and Brad Richardson (upper body)… Centre Jordan Weal made his debut for Arizona after being acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday in a trade for defenceman Jacob Graves and a sixth-round pick.

Shane Jones, The Canadian Press