Adam’s Three Keys to the Game: Arizona Coyotes at Minnesota Wild

The Arizona Coyotes continue their road trip with a stop in Minnesota tonight in what should be a thrilling match-up. The Coyotes are set to do battle with the Minnesota Wild in St. Paul at 5pm AZ time. This is the second away game for the Coyotes following their 3-2 shootout loss in Nashville on Tuesday night. The Coyotes currently hold a 2-2-1 record in the Pacific division while the Minnesota Wild are 2-2-0 in the Central division. The Wild come back home after their 2-1 loss against the Los Angeles Kings last Sunday.

Here are your three keys to the game: Arizona Coyotes (2-2-1) at Minnesota Wild (2-2-0):

1) Trust in Mike Smith

Dave Tippett has announced that Mike Smith will be in net tonight against Minnesota. His teammates and his fans need to realize that despite his poor start, he is their starting goaltender. His rhythm has been shaky in his games against Winnipeg, Edmonton, and St. Louis but there is still plenty of hockey yet to be played in this season. While some goals were credited to defensive hiccups in the Coyotes zone, the goals against are still attached to Mike’s overall statistics. This will be Smitty’s bounce back game as he is ready to redeem himself to his coaches, his teammates, and his fans. We can certainly do our part in believing in his abilities tonight against the Wild. We are not going to pay a guy six million dollars a year to simply ride the pine. He is the true starter on this team. Believe in him.

2) Play a Complete Game

“Play a complete game” is a little vague so I will break down that phrase further. Play like you did against Los Angeles and Nashville. The key includes a high shot total, increased physical play, and a high time of possession in the offensive zone. The games against the Kings and the Predators were easily the best played games by the Coyotes this season. If they can simply imitate their styles from those two instances, Minnesota shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

3) Test Kuemper Early

Not much is known about Minnesota goaltender Darcy Kuemper as he only has 35 NHL regular season games to his name. This season though, he is 2-1 with 2 shutouts, a .972 save percentage, and a 0.67 goals against average. Phenomenal numbers to say the least but I am not convinced. He has one of the hottest gloves in the league stopping 70 of 72 shots in 2014 but I predict that it will not last long. He has yet to face the Coyotes in his career so now is the perfect time for Arizona to showcase their style of play.

I will give him some props though for one hell of a stick save below: