Preview: Coyotes at Oilers, 6:30 p.m, FOX Sports Arizona Plus
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Teams that aren't postseason bound like the Edmonton Oilers and the Arizona Coyotes talk about competing hard down the stretch. But only one of them seems to be following through on those words.
The Oilers will try to avoid their fourth straight loss when they take on the resurgent Coyotes on Monday night at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.
Edmonton's latest losing streak grew with a 3-2 loss to rookie goaltender Alexandar Georgiev and the New York Rangers on Saturday night.
"It was obviously was a setback for us," Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom said Sunday. "We've been talking a lot about being ready from the start. ... It was for sure disappointing, but we cannot just hang our heads right now."
Edmonton (27-34-4) is 13th in the Western Conference -- 19 points behind the Los Angeles Kings for the second wild-card spot with 17 games to play. The Oilers have taken two of three from the Coyotes this season and are looking for a fourth straight home win over their division rival.
"We've got focus on the next game. Obviously, no one is happy with (Saturday) night's performance, so we have to focus on Arizona and come ready to work," Klefbom added.
Arizona (20-34-10) remains last in the league, one point behind the Buffalo Sabres, but is on an uptick.
The Coyotes are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games after a 2-1 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday behind goals from Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Jordan Martinook and 24 saves from Antti Raanta.
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"When you play at home, you've got to be hard to play against," Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said after his team completed a 5-2-0 homestand. "I think we've established a work ethic here. We've got a lot of ways to go, but I think one thing we've established is that this team will work."
A bigger challenge for the Coyotes is to continue that success on the road. Arizona is 8-18-6 on the road and plays 11 of its final 18 games away from the desert.
"Everybody's growing up a little bit to knowing what we need to do to win the games, and there's not many passengers anymore. Everybody's dialed in," said Raanta (15-15-6, 2.43 goals-against average, two shutouts).
Eight Coyotes have logged at least five points in the last 10 games, led by rookie Clayton Keller (two goals, seven assists) and fellow winger Max Domi (two goals, six assists).
Edmonton’s Connor McDavid tied a career high with his 30th goal in Saturday’s loss. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored, his 17th, in his first game back since missing almost two months with a rib injury.
Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot is 1-1-0 with a 2.38 goals-against average against Arizona this season. Talbot (22-26-2, 2.49 GAA, one shutout) has surrendered 11 goals while losing each of his last three starts.
Raanta is 6-1-0 with a 1.72 GAA and two shutouts in his last seven starts. He's 3-3-0 with a 2.10 GAA in six career games, including five starts, against the Oilers. Raanta made 40 saves in a 1-0 win over Edmonton on Feb. 17.
