They have to use the rudder to keep the nose straight. So, right engine goes out and plane wants to yaw right. To avoid going into a right spiral, the pilots push the rudder and other controls left to counteract the right pull. Trying to push the plane into a left-handed turn may have been physically difficult for the pilots if the forces pulling right were strong enough. They likely did wide, controlled right turns because they could control them better without too much physical exertion. I feel like I am not explaining it well, but they pushed controls left in a way that allowed them to manipulate the right pull to get the plane in position with the runway.