Arizona Coyotes Come Back From Break With Renewed Energy
After five days off, the Arizona Coyotes were anxious to get back into action.
And the one player who was missed the most, Martin Hanzal picked right up where he left off by notching two more assists to bring his team to victory. He now has 12 assists, and is tied for the lead in that category with five other fellow NHLer’s.
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Coach Dave Tippett commented on Hanzal’s performance to azcentral.com’s Sarah McLellan:
"”You see his assists, they’re hard-working assists. Checking and turning pucks over and playing good defense, it leads to opportunities for his wingers. You play that hard, that committed, you’re going to get pucks going the other way, and that’s what’s happening to him.”"
Hanzal was not the only Coyote player to have a good game. Connor Murphy also had two assists on Nicklas Grossmann’s scores. Mikkel Boedker also had two helpers to round out the scoring. It was a true team effort, reminiscent of the “pack mentality” they formerly displayed a few years ago.
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A prime example was the second Arizona Coyotes goal by Grossmann. He snapped a shot on net, and there was Steve Downie near the blue paint of the crease fighting for position to snatch up a juicy rebound. Downie whacked at the puck, as the Av’s D-man fell into the crease, the puck deflected off his leg and past his own net-minder. The play was challenged by Av’s head coach Patrick Roy, but the goal was allowed. Turns out Downie never touched the bisquit.
It’s goals like that which seemed to happen last season, but to the Arizona Coyotes not to the opposing team. You must make your own breaks, and that is exactly what Downie did.
The team displayed some much better pressure by fore-checking and playing solid defense. Mike Smith came through in a critical test of his confidence and ability to play better, and more similar to the first three games, where he dominated.
Now, it’s on to play Keith Yandle’s New York Rangers (still sounds funny) on Saturday night. The Rangers are playing extremely good hockey with an impressive 8-2-2 record, and the second best defense in the league.
They have a pretty good rookie themselves in Oscar Lindberg who has six goals, three assists in 12 games for the Rangers. The story of their success thus far this season is Henrik Lundqvist who sports some fantastic numbers. Six wins, two losses, two overtime losses with a SV% of .946 and a GAA of just 1.88. Scoring against him will be tough, and the Coyotes need to solve him to win Saturday.
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The Arizona Coyotes need to build off of their victory against the Avalanche with some continued pressure to force the issue against the tough Eastern Conference New York Rangers. I think that calls for former Ranger Anthony Duclair to step up and show his former team why they should have kept him.