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Saturday, Jan. 1 10:00pm ET
Weight lifts Oilers past Coyotes | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
PHOENIX (AP) -- The Edmonton Oilers have been far from road warriors this season. But captain Doug Weight felt right at home Saturday night, playing in front of his wife and family, and he led the Oilers to a 5-4 win over the Phoenix Coyotes. Weight's second goal of the game, with 1:04 remaining, proved to be the winner. "This is huge," said Weight, who owns a summer home in surburban Scottsdale. "And to score in front of family and friends is always great. "My wife is from here. I had 25 tickets for tonight's game for friends and family who wanted to come out and watch me play. They really get excited." The Oilers, who have the Western Conference's worst road record at 4-14-3, appeared headed for another defeat until Todd Marchant tied the game at 4 when he backhanded in a rebound with 4:40 left. Weight got the game-winner when Pat Falloon flipped a blind backhander at the net. Weight, standing alone in front of the net, deked Coyotes goalie Bob Essensa and slid the puck between his pads. It ended a three-game road losing streak for the Oilers, who got 23 saves from Tommy Salo. "We've been better this year coming from behind," said Edmonton coack Kevin Lowe. "We had a decent game going and then we had a couple breakdowns in the second period. But the forwards in particular decided they were not going to lose all that work early, so they kept battling." Phoenix, playing again without captain Keith Tkachuk (back spasms), took a 3-2 lead when Travis Green and rookie Trevor Letowski scored 14 seconds apart early in the second period. Juha Ylonen's first goal since Oct. 10 _ a 33-game span -- made it 4-2 with 11 minutes left in the second before Edmonton closed the gap on Ethan Moreau's fluke goal with 5:16 remaining in the period. Essensa skated into the corner to clear the puck, which bounced off an Oilers player and back toward the slot. Moreau batted it out of the air and off Coyotes defenseman Stan Neckar's foot, with the puck rolling into the empty net. Phoenix winger Dallas Drake had a hand in both first-period goals -- one for each team. Roman Hamrlik's slap shot went off the blade of Drake's outstreatched stick 7:25 into the game. Drake tied the score with 4:31 left in the period, tipping in Shane Doan's blast from the far boards. Essensa finished with 32 saves and lost for just the fourth time this season against 12 wins. "Edmonton played a good game. They were relentless," said Letowski, who is among the league's top rookie scorers with 10 goals. "If we want to be a top team in the league, these games are going to haunt us." | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Edmonton Clubhouse Phoenix Clubhouse RECAPS Florida 7 Tampa Bay 5
Edmonton 5
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