Arizona Coyotes Shut Down by Calgary Flames 3-0

The Arizona Coyotes can’t get on the board, lose 3-0 to the Calgary Flames

Photo courtesy of war-on-ice.com. Here, you see where the Coyotes just LOST IT.

Oh MY God, Arizona.

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Normally I try and give the most accurate, professional, even-demeanored recap I possibly can… but I am a FIRM BELIEVER that PROFESSIONAL RECAPS ARE ONLY DESERVING OF PROFESSIONAL SPORTS TEAMS.

The Arizona Coyotes have now gone five periods of play without scoring a single goal. They’ve been outscored 7-3 in the last two games, with ALL SEVEN OF THOSE GOALS COMING IN UNANSWERED SUCCESSION.

The shocking part of all this is that the Coyotes were outshot 13-3 in the first period, yet that was the only twenty minute period that the Flames were held goalless ALL GAME. Despite outshooting the Flames 15-5 in the second and pressing close with an 11-8 in the third to favor Calgary, though, these Pacific Division rivals got in three goals in the final forty minutes.

I just…

I don’t understand.

If it were a lack of talent, we’d be having a completely different conversation here. The Edmonton Oilers may be pretty terrible right now, but at least it makes sense — they have zero defensive play in front of two very ‘average at best’ netminders, which tends to lead to losses.

The Coyotes, though, aren’t a bad team.

Two Arizona regular roster members lead the league in blocked shots (Michael Stone in league defensemen, Joe Vitale in league forwards); Devan Dubnyk stopped 14 of 14 shots in the first period, and the Coyotes absolutely dominated in the faceoff circle. They weren’t held to ten shots on the game like the Buffalo Sabres were in a 4-0 loss to Toronto earlier this season… so why can’t they score?

Players like Tobias Rieder, Brandon McMillan, Shane Doan, and even newcomer Brendan Shinnimin looked absolutely fantastic all game long. These four forwards had consistent, high energy — McMillan was taking shots close to the crease all night long, and Rieder created more goal opportunities for guys like Martin Erat and Sam Gagner than anyone on Calgary did for their own men. Stone and Connor Murphy looked dominant up and down the ice all sixty minutes, and alternate captain Keith Yandle did his absolute best to spark the team’s offense every shift he took.

November 23, 2014; Anaheim, CA, USA; Arizona Coyotes center Tobias Rieder (8) moves in for a shot on goal against the Anaheim Ducks during the third period at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Can we just discuss the fact that Rieder TOOK FOUR SHOTS ON GOAL AND WAS DENIED ON ALL FOUR?

Trying doesn’t mean a whole lot unless you’re scoring, though… so fans won’t remember Shinnimin’s NHL debut for the immense physical effort he displayed, because they’ll be too busy remembering how badly the Coyotes need scorepower.

Sometimes, teams get unlucky. Johnny Gaudreau looks like he’s to the Calgary Flames what Max Domi should be to the Arizona Coyotes next season, and sometimes these small skaters are just too tricky to keep up with. Jiri Hudler (1G, 2A) had a monstrous night, of which the Coyotes happened to be the unfortunate recipients. No team wins all 82 games, and no team goes an entire season without a few embarrassing games they wish they could forget.

When you’ve only got one win in six games, though, you can be as close and competitive as you want — at a certain point, you just have to own up to the fact that you aren’t playing very well. If we’re going on luck here, the Coyotes should have been ‘lucky’ enough to tip in the extra goal at least one or two times over the past few games… and they just haven’t.

Moving Forward

At this point, I genuinely don’t even know what the Coyotes need to do to win a game.

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I suggested swapping Smith for Dubnyk in net; they lost. I suggested spicing up the scoring lines; they lost. David Schlemko doesn’t even look like the problem anymore — if anything, he’s looking better than ever after the prodigal waiver-slap on the wrist earlier this season. The team doesn’t have an issue with faceoffs, and they don’t really get dominated in puck possession; they’re shooting (and the shots are somewhat okay, if a bit uninspired and low-risk) no more or less than any other average team in the league.

The only thing I can possibly see being the problem here is turnovers, and how the team reacts to them. The Coyotes are as good at turning the game around as any opponent they’ve faced so far… the major problem they have is when turnovers are headed towards their own net.

When they turn the puck over? They look strong, they look good, but the other teams are managing to regroup defensively much faster than the Coyotes are. When they lose possession of the puck, they treat it like a DEFCON 9 situation and start to flail and panic and let in shots that they have no business allowing near their goaltender in the first place.

I’m not an NHL coach so I can’t begin to suggest how to fix that, so the only remedy I can offer is to park each guy in front of a net for the next ten hours and force him to shoot until he actually remembers what good aim is. Then, order them to play puck keepaway for an entire practice until they’ve learned how to calmly address a turnover.

I’ve got nothing else to say on this game. Happy Thanksgiving, Coyotes fans.

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