After a day off, the Kings and Coyotes are right back to facing one another after Phoenix’s 2-0 victory in Los Angeles on Thursday night. Can the Coyotes continue with their recent hot play over the Kings or will the Kings get a much needed victory on the road?
Thursday’s game for Phoenix was a polar opposite of their game against Nashville on Tuesday. The Coyotes were outshot by Los Angeles 36-15, but Phoenix took the most of their few chances on Kings goalie Jonathan Quick. Martin Hanzal scored on a disputed power play goal to give the Coyotes a one-goal lead in the second period. It appeared as though Hanzal’s stick was parallel with the post so the goal stood as called. Lee Stempniak would score unassisted nearly a minute later to give the Yotes a two-goal advantage. Phoenix would never look back and would go on and win.
Los Angeles had their fair share of chances. There were some shots that they completely whiffed on, including a couple from captain Dustin Brown late in the game. There were other opportunities where Ilya Bryzgalov just came up with some big saves. When you are struggling as bad as the Kings are offensively right now though, you will make even an average goaltender look great.
In their two wins during the month of January, the Kings have scored 11 goals. In their eight losses, they have scored only 10 goals. That is quite a discrepancy. If the Coyotes can get up on them early, that would be huge key to a Phoenix victory.