Arizona Coyotes Lose 4-1 In San Jose

The Arizona Coyotes squared off against the Sharks in the second game of a back-to-back hoping to keep their playoff dreams alive.

With their loss tonight to the Sharks, the Arizona Coyotes playoff outlook is bleak.

In a month’s time they’ve faded from a healthy buffer in second place in the Pacific Division to being fourth and six points back of third place Anaheim.

The Coyotes’ started their night in San Jose in the same way they have often started games in 2015-16. Giving up an early goal.

Matt Tennyson beat Louis Domingue just 2:59 into the period to give the Sharks the early 1-0 lead.

Late in the first, bad defensive coverage by Mikkel Boedker allowed Brent Burns to skate by him and feed Chris Tierney for an easy goal. 2-0 Sharks.

1:58 into the second period, Tobias Rieder found Martin Hanzal on a breakaway and the big guy sniped one past Martin Jones to cut the Sharks lead in half. 2-1.

The Arizona Coyotes looked to be hanging in there and gaining some ground through the end of the second period and into the third. They were even the beneficiaries of a no-goal call on the Sharks.

Mere seconds after the overturned goal, the Sharks struck again. Tomas Hertl fooled Domingue with a slick redirect to regain San Jose’s two goal lead. 3-1.

Joonas Donskoi sealed the deal with an empty netter thanks in part to a bad call on Michael Stone that put the Yotes shorthanded late in the 3rd period.

San Jose Sharks win 4-1.

Player Performance

Every game I want to write something nice about Mikkel Boedker. Lately there isn’t much nice to say. He’s certainly not making much of a case for anywhere north of $5,000,000 dollars that he’s rumored to be seeking on that next contract. I’m still unconvinced he’s even worth a flat five million right now.

Martin Hanzal scored for the second time in three games. He now has 3 points in his last five after being virtually invisible for a long stretch of games before that. He did take another penalty, but the Arizona Coyotes need Hanzal to get going to have any success moving forward.

Anthony Duclair had no shots on goal. Stop me if you’ve heard this before.

Connor Murphy and Oliver Ekman-Larsson were on the ice for all three even strength goals by the Sharks. Not a great night for the top pairing. Not good at all.

Arizona Coyotes Player of the Game

Tobias Rieder continues to impress. He played 3:23 shorthanded and put 4 shots on goal. His hustle every night is a joy to watch.

The View From The 200 Level

To quote The Waterboy, “the chickens are coming home to roost” and the Arizona Coyotes are becoming more and more of a long shot to squeak into the playoffs.

Regression on the offensive end is hitting the Coyotes hard. The lack of consistent scoring is showcasing the holes that were hidden up and down the lineup. The Yotes were winning in the first half of 2015-16 despite being outshot and outchanced regularly, and now as expected that formula isn’t quite so reliable.

Despite being down 2-1 going into the third period, as well as being down 3-1 for almost half of the period, the Arizona Coyotes managed just one shot on net in the third.

Next: Arizona Coyotes' Fights From 2014-15: Part I

How? How do you manage just one shot when trailing and coming down to the wire? That’s not something that should ever happen, particularly when playing from behind.

The defensive zone breakdowns and puck watching are another matter entirely. Combine a lack of shot generation with an inability to defend and you have a goaltender scrambling in every direction for the majority of the night.

That’s not a winning recipe.

Now the Yotes have one day off before their next matchup with Montreal on Monday night.

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