When the Arizona Coyotes played their final NHL game in the Phoenix area last year, it was the Edmonton Oilers who played against them.
The Coyotes have since moved to Salt Lake City and been renamed the Utah Hockey Club (9-10-3) and Friday night will see the Oilers (11-9-2) play the club for the first time since the move.
Arizona Coyotes mascot Howler acknowledges holds a sign after the team’s NHL hockey game against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Tempe, Ariz. The Coyotes won 5-2. Team owner Alex Meruelo agreed to sell franchise’s hockey operations to Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith, who moved the team to Salt Lake City.
AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin
The Oilers’ first visit to the Delta Center in Utah will mark the hockey team’s first game since earning an impressive 6-2 victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday.
Friday’s game will be the first stop on a three-game road trip that Edmonton is embarking on. The Oilers have a 6-3-1 record in away games this season while Utah HC has a 4-4-1 record at home.
Jack McBain has been filling the net for Utah as of late, scoring six goals over the last 10 games. Over the last 10 games, Oilers captain Connor McDavid has been on a tear, scoring eight goals and collecting 10 assists over that stretch.
McDavid’s offensive outburst has been a welcome development for the Oilers who have struggled to score at times this season. The Oilers’ forward group could get a boost sooner than later, however, as forward Zach Hyman appears to be nearing a return from an injury earlier this month.
Hyman sustained an injury on Nov. 19 in a game against the Ottawa Senators. On Thursday, he practised with his teammates for the first time since getting hurt and he joined them on their upcoming road trip.
“(It’s been) very frustrating,” he acknowledged. “(But I) had a lot more time this week to rest and recover.
“But like any player, I don’t like missing games — I love playing hockey. I love being out there with the guys.”
Edmonton Oilers forward Zach Hyman skates with his teammates on Nov. 28, 2024.
Global News
In each of his first three seasons with the Oilers, Hyman set a new personal career high for goals: 27 in 2021-22, 36 in 2022-23 and 54 in 2023-34. Like many Oilers this season, however, Hyman’s numbers are down so far. He has just three goals in his first 20 games but hopes to return soon and improve those numbers.
“He’s been going through the steps,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said of Hyman’s work to return from injury. “He’s feeling much better and there’s a chance that he’s playing this road trip sometime.”
On Thursday night, the Oilers recalled forward Drake Caggiula from the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors.
Caggiula has put up one assist in four games at the NHL level this season but has delivered offensively in the AHL, where he has scored five goals and four assists in 12 games with the Condors.
Janmark’s consistency receives praise from coach
While Hyman’s imminent return and the recent return from injury for Darnell Nurse will help the Oilers as they hope to get on a winning run, it has been an up and down season for the club with a number of players putting up less impressive statistics than last season so far. But that is not the case for 31-year-old forward Mattias Janmark.
Janmark has quietly put up solid offensive numbers this season while also helping Edmonton’s penalty kill rebound after a tough start.
In 22 games this season, the Swedish-born player already has 10 points and just needs two more to equal his points total from 2023-24.
Janmark played a key role in the Oilers’ dominant penalty kill during the 2024 NHL playoffs, a post-season that ended with a Game 7 loss in the Stanley Cup final.
Carolina Hurricanes’ Jesperi Kotkaniemi (82) and Edmonton Oilers’ Mattias Janmark (13) battle for the puck during second period NHL action in Edmonton on Tuesday, October 22, 2024.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
“When you go through a good playoffs and a good finals, that for sure gives you a little bit of confidence,” he said this week. “You know that you can do that at the highest level. … (That is) something I tried to carry into this season.”
Janmark’s teammates spoke this week about how important he is to the team, often in ways that are not demonstrated on the scoresheet.
“Mattias has been great,” Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. “He thinks the game well (and) he reads situations well.”
“He’s a huge part of this group — not only on the ice, but off the ice as well,” McDavid said.
“His role on the penalty kill is massive.”
Janmark, who put up impressive offensive numbers in his hockey career prior to playing in the NHL, suggested he prides himself on improving his play in all aspects of the game.
“I think to stay in the league, … if you’re not scoring, you have to be good at other things,” he explained. “(I’ve) been in the league long enough now to have gone through all of that.”
Knoblauch said what stands out to him about Janmark is the consistency he offers game in and game out.
“The last three or four weeks, he has been pretty much one of our better forwards every single night,” Knoblauch said.
“You know, (when) you’re looking down your bench and trying to find somebody to put out in that last minute — who are you going to trust to get a job done? Mattias is definitely on the top of that list.”
–with files from The Associated Press