EDMONTON, Alberta — The Edmonton Oilers fired Coach Dave Tippett on Thursday with the star-studded team scrambling to secure a playoff spot.

Jay Woodcroft, the 45-year-old head coach of the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield, California, will take over behind the bench. He will be joined by assistant Dave Manson, who replaces Jim Playfair.

After beginning the season 16-5-0, the Oilers have gone 7-13-3 in a head-scratching performance for a team led by stars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

Edmonton (23-18-3) stands fifth in the NHL’s Pacific Division, five points out of a wild-card spot, and has lost its last two games.

The firing is the seventh coaching change in the NHL this season and second in the past two days after Martin St. Louis replaced Dominique Ducharme in Montreal, which is at the bottom of the standings after reaching the Stanley Cup final last season.

Tippett, 60, was named Oilers coach in May 2019, three weeks after Ken Holland was hired as GM and president of hockey operations. Tippett received a three-year contract but the Oilers have never advanced past the first round of the playoffs on his watch even as Draisaitl (2020) and McDavid (2021) won the Hart Memorial Trophy as NHL MVP.

Tippett coached the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes from 2009-10 through 2016-17. He earned the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year in his first season.

He arrived in Edmonton with a record of 553-413-120 with 28 ties in 14 seasons with the Coyotes and Dallas Stars, whom he coached for six seasons. Tippett, who played more than 700 NHL games, was a senior adviser with the Seattle Kraken before joining Edmonton.

It is the second coaching change in Edmonton in less than four years: The Oilers fired Todd McLellan in November 2018 after a 9-10-1 start. Ken Hitchcock coached the team for the final 62 games of the season.

CANUCKS: The Vancouver Canucks named Hall of Famer Cammi Granato as an assistant general manager, the team announced.

Granato, 50, moves to the Canucks from the Seattle Kraken, where she has served as a scout since 2019.

COYOTES: Arizona will use Arizona State’s new on-campus hockey arena for at least the next three years while the team looks for a permanent home.

Arizona State’s arena will hold about 5,000 fans, easily making it the NHL’s smallest home venue. The Coyotes will begin playing there next season, and the deal announced Thursday has an option for the 2025-26 season.

WILD: Minnesota left wing Marcus Foligno received a two-game suspension for kneeing Winnipeg’s Adam Lowry at the end of a fight.

In the third period of the Wild-Jets game on Tuesday, Foligno pulled Lowry down to the ice after gaining the upper hand in a tussle that drew both players a major penalty. As the officials were trying to separate them, Foligno raised his leg to press it on Lowry, who was lying on his back.

THURSDAY GAMES

BLUE JACKETS 4, SABRES 3: Jakub Voracek scored 16 seconds into overtime visiting Columbus a win over Buffalo.

Oliver Bjorkstrand, Jack Roslovic and Brendan Gaunce also had goals for the Blue Jackets, who won for the fourth time in five games and second straight on a five-game road trip.

CAPITALS 5, CANADIENS 2: Joe Snively had his first two-goal game in the NHL and Washington won in Montreal, spoiling the debut of Canadiens interim coach Martin St. Louis.

Connor McMicheal and Carl Hagelin added goals for Washington and Tom Wilson added an empty-netter to help the Capitals (26-14-9) snap a two-game losing streak. Ilya Samsonov made 42 saves.

PENGUINS 2, SENATORS 0: Casey DeSmith made 26 saves in outdueling former Penguins star and teammate Matt Murray and Pittsburgh won its fifth straight road game with a victory over Ottawa.

DEVILS 7, BLUES 4: Nico Hischier and Yegor Sharangovich triggered a five-goal blitz in the third period and Jon Gillies made 27 saves as New Jersey rallied for a win at St. Louis.

New Jersey, playing its third game in four nights, won back-to-back road games for the first time this season after beating Montreal on Tuesday.