Arizona Coyotes vs Dallas Stars: previews and predictions
Arizona Coyotes vs Dallas Stars
The Arizona Coyotes have this game in the bag! The Dallas Stars have lost their last seven games, they’re last in the Western Conference…
Wait. What do you mean, they’re only a point apart?
In all honesty, the Coyotes are probably the favored team heading into this game, but fans cannot forget the extremely slow start Arizona endured before finally hitting their stride. The Coyotes are 6-7-1, which means that they lost a LOT before they started winning.
The 4-6-4 record of the Stars, though, shows that this team is just barely hanging on to their twelve points. They’ve only got four wins in fourteen games- and Tyler Seguin may have a hat trick and eight million girls obsessively following him on Instagram, but this team cannot seem to pull out regulation wins.
No matter where the teams stand going into the game, though, one thing is sure: Dave Tippett’s old team won’t go down easily.
Details for Tuesday night’s game:
DATE: Tuesday, November 11th
TIME: 7:00 p.m. (PST)
LOCATION: Glendale, Arizona
ARENA: Gila River Arena
TV INFO: Fox Sports Arizona, Fox Sports W+
Keys to Victory:
Who doesn’t love a good comeback story?
Well, the Arizona Coyotes, for starters. They’re going to be tasked with keeping the Dallas Stars on a mind-blowing downward spiral- with offensive breakout players like Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and Val Nichushkin- not to mention vets like Ales Hemsky and his bff Jason Spezza- there’s no reason the Stars shouldn’t be sitting higher in the standings.
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Coyotes head coach Dave Tippett knows his former team to an extent, but so much has changed since he was last there- both on the ice and in the front office. He’s got a good record against the Stars in Arizona (he is 9-3-1 against Dallas at Gila River Arena), but this season presents a whole new Dallas Stars to contend with.
Mike Smith is back in net tonight, across the ice from Kari Lehtonen– and that’s the first big thing to look at in this game.
Jason Spezza is generally dominant against the Arizona Coyotes (or, at least, he was back in Ottawa), so Smitty will have to be on his A-game. On the other end of the ice? Kari Lehtonen can stop an entire barrage of shots when he needs to- if the Coyotes want to play one of their low-shooting games, they probably won’t walk away with a win.
Rob Klinkhammer is out of the lineup, with Kyle Chipchura back in after four consecutive healthy scratches- could look for this forward to make a big impact, but don’t rely on it. Players like Shane Doan, Tobias Rieder, Sam Gagner, and Martin Erat need to maintain their hot streaks- and guys like Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Mikkel Boedker, and Martin Hanzal need to step it up a bit. The Coyotes need to play a shut-down defensive game, but they need to capitalize on every goal opportunity they get.
They’ll lose tonight if they don’t play to the characteristics of the Dallas Stars, but they can pull off a win if they push ahead with the kind of momentum fans have seen in the past handful of games. Expect a dynamic three periods- and don’t be at all surprised if you see overtime.
November 7, 2014; Anaheim, CA, USA; Arizona Coyotes goalie Mike Smith (41) blocks a shot against the Anaheim Ducks during the overtime period at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Predictions:
Luckily, Tyler Seguin just got a hat trick- so FINGERS CROSSED HE’S NOT ABOUT TO GET ANOTHER ONE. I predict that Sam Gagner scores against the team hosting his old buddy Ales Hemsky, and the Stars fall a little behind from the loss of vet presence Sergei Gonchar. There wasn’t a whole lot to be impressed with on Dallas’ blue line, but it’s never easy to just lose a guy- especially when his offensive replacement doesn’t arrive until Wednesday.
I say the Coyotes have this one.