FEEL-GOOD OT VICTORY

Oilers get best of Coyotes

A game between the 27th- and 31st-place teams in the NHL isn’t usually one that people circle on the calendars — not unless they ’re reminding themselves to give away the tickets — but Monday night at Rogers Place turned into the feelgood game of the month.

That’s not saying much given it’s only March 5, but with the Edmonton Oilers breaking their threegame losing skid, Milan Lucic snapping a goal-scoring drought that dates back to Cooperalls and Lange skates and Oscar Klefbom’s first goal in 34 games winning it in overtime, everyone left the place with a big smile.

Except the Arizona Coyotes, who came to Edmonton on a bit of a roll (8-2-1), but left on the wrong end of a 4-3 overtime decision.

It was way more dramatic than it needed to be with the Oilers blowing yet another two-goal lead, this time giving up a pair of Arizona tallies in the final 8:29, but all’s well that ends well.

It was one of the few bright spots lately for the Oilers, who had four wins in their previous 14 games and hadn’t tasted victory since before the trade deadline.

It didn’t look like this would be their night, however.

The Oilers fell behind 1-0 early in the first period on a fluke goal credited to Jason Demers, but they refused to let the rest of their game be dictated by one twist of fate and it was pretty much over by the end of the first period.

Edmonton hit for the cycle in pulling away from Arizona with Jujhar Khaira scoring shorthanded at 8:01, Lucic breaking his 29-game goal-scoring drought at 13:21 and Jesse Puljujarvi scoring on a power play at 17:04.

The score stood through 40 minutes, leaving one period for the Oilers to hold their lead. Of course, holding leads has been a bit of an issue lately. Christian Dvorak cut it to 3-2 at 11:31 and Nik Hjalmarsson capitalized on some chaos in the Oilers end and tied it with 4:39 to go. But Klefbom’s first goal since Dec. 9 saved the night.