Arizona Coyotes: Desert Digest, Nov. Week III

The Arizona Coyotes pick up steam, and they’re off!

HALLELUJIAH.

The last time the Arizona Coyotes lost by more than a two-goal margin was when they fell 3-0 to the Carolina Hurricanes — since then, the Coyotes have been off and running.

Last week, we watched the Arizona team triumph over the Washington Capitals, the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Anaheim Ducks (in that particular order). Then, we saw them slip 1-0 in the final minutes of the game to the New York Islanders on Saturday night… which brings us to our last week in review.

We saw a couple of wins, a couple of losses, and a couple of key roster changes. We saw fights, we saw injuries, and we saw Keith Yandle miraculously emerge from the locker room minutes after we all thought he was done for to continue skating and maintain his 403-consecutive-games-and-counting streak.

Had to miss a game? That’s all right: Catch up on the Week II Digest if you need a refresher, then let’s break down what you missed:

Nov 11, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; Dallas Stars defenseman Trevor Daley (6) and left wing Jamie Benn (14) fight with Arizona Coyotes left wing Mikkel Boedker (89), defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and right wing Shane Doan (19) in the third period at Gila River Arena. The Stars defeated the Coyotes 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Arizona Coyotes vs Dallas Stars

Date: Tuesday, November 11th
Final Score: Stars 4– 3 Coyotes

The Coyotes exploded early on in this 4-3 loss to the Dallas Stars, but lost momentum (and forgot to keep three men on Tyler Seguin at all times) as the game wore on.

Two well-placed shots by Seguin tied the game in the second, then the Stars pulled ahead; and though the Coyotes managed to tie it back up at three all in the bottom of the third period, a short-handed goal by Ryan Garbutt in the final minutes of the game sealed Arizona’s fate. The Stars broke their seven-game losing streak, the Coyotes continued on a fresh new losing streak of their own, and Mike Smith ruined his 1.99 GAA that he’d developed since surging back into the game.

This game was the first time fans really noticed how serious the problem was on the Coyotes’ special teams — for the first time all season, they were not only unable to produce a single power-play goal, they actually got scored upon instead.

To read the full breakdown of that game, click here; to see what we had to say about the power play situation the day after, click here.

Nov 13, 2014; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames center Josh Jooris (86) and Arizona Coyotes right wing Shane Doan (19) battle for the puck during the third period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Calgary Flames won 5-3. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

Arizona Coyotes vs Calgary Flames

Date: Thursday, November 13th
Final Score: Flames 5 — 3 Coyotes

For the second game in a row, the Arizona Coyotes were unable to pull out a win in a dynamic, back-and-forth game with an extremely evenly matched team.

Following this game could give even the most season hockey fan whiplash; the Coyotes managed to come back from behind to tie the game on two separate occasions before the Flames pulled ahead with a final shot past Mike Smith and an empty-netter to seal the win.

This game was both a testament to the Coyotes’ renewed momentum this season and a testament to Jonas Hiller; the netminder held off a bombardment of shots by the Arizona team in the final minutes of the game to maintain the final two-goal lead. NHL fans must give the Coyotes credit, though — they came back from both a 1-0 deficit and then a 3-1 deficit to tie up the game before allowing the final two goals to slip past. Had the game gone on an extra period, it’s entirely likely that the Coyotes could have tied it up again; this was an extremely different Coyotes team from the one fans saw lose by five-plus goals at the start of the season.

For a full recap of this game, click here.

Nov 14, 2014; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Arizona Coyotes forward Shane Doan (19) tries to tip the puck against Vancouver Canucks goaltender Ryan Miller (30) during the second period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

Arizona Coyotes vs Vancouver Canucks

Date: Friday, November 14th
Final Score: Coyotes 5 — 0 Canucks

Ohhhh, baby!

In his first recorded shutout with the Arizona Coyotes, Devan Dubnyk stopped a barrage of shots by the league-topping Vancouver Canucks to help the Coyotes bring home a 5-0 victory in their second back-to-back game.

Dubnyk’s stellar play didn’t earn the win alone, though — the Coyotes brought a roster with them to Vancouver that finally looked like Pacific Division contenders.

Some of the changes that helped with the win? Obviously, Dubnyk was given a chance to prove himself; in addition, Tobias Rieder was established as a top-six with the team, and Brandon Gormley got to skate out in place of David Schlemko.

Gormley had made it clear that he wasn’t happy being stuck in Portland, but head coach Dave Tippett revealed to the media that he’d been shopping Schlemko for some time before finally calling the rising star up and placing the odd man out on waivers. He’s been reassigned to Portland in Gormley’s place, and Gorms made sure to thank Tipp in kind with some spectacular two-way play on defense Friday night.

Oh — in case you missed it? Martin Hanzal, who many have criticized for spending too much time hurt and not enough time being effective, recorded a natural hat trick to kick things off.

To read the full recap of this game, click here.

Nov 16, 2014; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Edmonton Oilers left wing Benoit Pouliot (67) plays the puck around the Arizona Coyotes net at Rexall Place. Mandatory Credit: Steve Alkok-USA TODAY Sports

Arizona Coyotes vs Edmonton Oilers

Date: Sunday, November 16th
Final Score: Coyotes 2 — 1 Oilers

Taylor Hall made sure he was back in time for this division rivalry matchup, but it just wasn’t enough for Edmonton.

In an attempt to replicate Friday night’s success, Tippett froze the lineup as it was in Vancouver — which meant that call-up Lucas Lessio got to watch his team earn their second consecutive win from his seat in the press box.

Gormley continued to earn his place on the team with his first goal of the season (scored on the power play, nonetheless, which earned him enough brownie points with the front office to probably get his own room on road trips), while Dubnyk stretched his shutout streak by nearly an extra three periods before Hall slipped one past him on a power play goal of his own.

Oh, the other thing? Mikkel Boedker seems to be back — took him long enough.

To read the full recap of this game (and see a pretty cool vine of Dubnyk looking like a ninja), click here.

Nov 12, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Phil Kessel (81) goes after a loose puck against the Boston Bruins during the first period at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Around the League:

The Columbus Blue Jackets finally broke their losing streak, largely due to the return of starting netminder Sergei Bobrovsky. In less pleasant news for the franchise, it looks like Nathan Horton’s career is over for good.
The Toronto Maple Leafs may have started off the season respectably enough, but a couple stumbles reminded the league that this Original Six franchise does as much damage to itself as any other team ever could. Between fans tumbling down staircases, more scarves being thrown on the ice, unacceptable threats being made to James Reimer’s wife on twitter, and Phil Kessel getting kind of snippy with the media, this is easily the most drama-fueled team in the NHL.
The league has finally come clean: they’ve been talking to an interest group about what it would take to establish an NHL franchise in Sin City. The potential ownership group, which includes the Maloof family (former Sacramento Kings owners), have been close with Gary Bettman since the league moved the NHL Awards to Las Vegas in 2008.

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