With the Edmonton Oilers rising and the Arizona Coyotes sputtering (maybe for their long-term benefit), Edmonton winning 3-2 isn’t too big of a deal.
The mounting tensions between the two teams? That’s a little more interesting, or at least it makes for a better video.
Late in the contest, the Coyotes and Oilers got into a scrum after Oliver Ekman-Larsson delivered a hit on Matt Hendricks. Things devolved from there, as you can see in the clip above.
It’s unclear if OEL put a little more “mustard” on that hit because of Hendricks’ early check on Jakob Chychrun, which left the rookie shaken up:
The Oilers and Coyotes meet two more times this season: on Jan. 16 and Feb. 14. There’s a solid chance that the stakes will be higher for Edmonton than Arizona in one or both of those games, but those matchups will be at least a bit higher on the radar considering the possibility for bad blood.