Arizona Coyotes vs Tampa Bay Lightning: previews and predictions

The Arizona Coyotes are in for another major test to start off their week

The Arizona Coyotes have had a fairly tumultuous season so far. They were thrown around like rag dolls by the Winnipeg Jets and the St. Louis Blues, had a couple close calls against the LA Kings and the Florida Panthers (I KNOW), and walked all over the Edmonton Oilers. Who, ya know, walked all over the Montreal Canadiens… who have been dominant thus far… so you can’t predict a game one hundred percent.

My best guess is that Tuesday night’s contest against the Tampa Bay Lightning is going to be another uphill battle for the desert dogs, but things could go well for the team after their motivating win Saturday night.

Oct 25, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Coyotes center Justin Hodgman (12) celebrates with center Sam Gagner (9) after scoring his first NHL career goal in his first NHL career game during the third period against the Florida Panthers at Gila River Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Details for the game:

DATE: Tuesday, Oct. 28th
TIME: 7:30 p.m EST
LOCATION: Tampa, FL
ARENA: Amalie Arena
TV INFO: Fox Sports AZ, SunS

Keys to Victory:

As with any game, this could swing in the Coyotes’ favor- but it’s going to take more work.

So far this season, we haven’t seen the Coyotes step up against every difficult team the way they should. The Kings didn’t look one hundred percent in their overtime loss to the Coyotes- and while Arizona remained neck-in-neck with the Predators for their entire game, we could also see the squad that faced off against the St. Louis Blues just nights before.

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Puck Prose

Tampa Bay has had some weak games so far this season, though I think it’s too early to tell if that’s an issue with the squad and their chemistry or if it was simply a mislabeled effort and an unfortunate coincidence. The Coyotes cannot bank on the Atlantic Division team coming in with an overly-optimistic winning mindset, and the Coyotes cannot expect to capitalize on stupid mistakes. They have to play as if they’re playing the team that skyrocketed to near the top of the East last season- that way, they’re prepared either way.

Jonathan Drouin and Justin Hodgman are the Wild Cards in this game. We can speculate about whether goalies will play their best or players will perform as per their usual standards, but these two new guys have the power to be game changers. The Coyotes should go into this game with the expectation that Hodgman will have the worst game of his life, and Drouin will wow the crowds- it’s better to overestimate and come out on top than it is to underestimate and have your skates knocked out from beneath you.

Additionally- Sam Gagner will need to perform above and beyond. Ya know, actually hit the points he was brought on to hit.

Prediction:

I’d like to be surprised, but I can easily see this game swinging in Tampa Bay’s favor. I’ll be optimistic, though, and predict a close game- perhaps an OT winner?