The Arizona Coyotes finish their east coast road trip with a stop at our nation’s capital tonight as they set to do battle against the Washington Capitals. The Coyotes are looking for their first road win this season after last night’s 3-0 loss against the Florida Panthers. Will the Coyotes pick up that much needed win in the Verizon Center tonight?
Here are your three keys to the game: Arizona Coyotes (3-6-1) at Washington Capitals (4-4-2):
1) Put ‘Em Past Peters Pronto:
It was announced earlier today that backup goaltender Justin Peters will be in net tonight against the Coyotes instead of Braden Holtby. Not necessarily a “sigh of relief” as the Coyotes have had a better history scoring on Hotlby than Peters. With that being said, the Coyotes offense needs a spark and exploiting a goaltender that is a registered backup will certainly help. Peters has a .914 save percentage and a 2.01 goals against coming in to tonight’s game which are not bad numbers at all. His last game was October 26th against the Canucks so the Coyotes will need to push the pace early on in the first period to capitalize on his cold feet before he gets comfortable in net.
2) Rieder’s Ready to Ride:
The Arizona Coyotes organization decided to shake the lineups up a bit by recalling right wing Tobias Rieder from Portland today. Tippett has yet to reveal where he will play in the lineup but he has confirmed that he will play tonight in Washington. Not much is known about this German hockey player as this is going to be his first career NHL game. Rieder was very close to making the final roster cuts during training camp so the potential is clearly there. He is certainly a wild card tonight so giving him a solid role against the Capitals certainly can’t hurt the Coyotes offense. Bold prediction: Tobias Rieder will score a point tonight.
3) Don’t Doubt Dubnyk:
That’s right, it is the battle of the backups tonight in our nation’s capital. Even though the Coyotes fell short to the Carolina Hurricanes last night, Mike Smith had a pretty good game stopping 32 of 35 shots on net. It is an easy decision to rest him for tonight’s game after his effort last night in net. Devan Dubnyk has been a pleasant surprise this season for the Arizona Coyotes. Coming in to tonight’s game he holds a 2.57 goals against and a .889 save percentage. If the defense can clear the crease, Dubnyk will be able to make the stops the team needs. If you take away his sight, it will be another long night for the Arizona Coyotes.