Peter Horachek was only Step One in cleaning house.
Do you, Coyotes fans, remember when the Toronto Maple Leafs came to Gila River Arena under Randy Carlyle and forgot to play the first half of the game?
Puck Prose
Fast forward a month, and the Leafs were actually sitting in playoff contention. They had a winning record, sitting on nearly ten more wins than the Coyotes themselves.
For a team that had seen multiple collapses, though, going 1-8-1 in the team’s first ten games following the Christmas break was too much. So, they (finally) fired Carlyle — and, well, haven’t exactly been winning since.
The Leafs are one of the only teams who have done worse in their last ten games than the Arizona Coyotes themselves, sitting on yet another 1-8-1 record only due to the shootout loss they suffered Wednesday night. They’re heading into their second game of a back-to-back set, and they’re playing with a struggling Jonathan Bernier.
In contrast, Mike Smith has been — well, this certainly isn’t his best season — and Mikkel Boedker is still recovering from his spleen removal surgery. In order to win, the good Canadian boys Arizona has to offer need to play their absolute best.
Details for Thursday night’s game:
DATE: Thursday, January 29th
TIME: 5:30 P.M.
LOCATION: Toronto, Ontario, CA
ARENA: Air Canada Centre
TV INFO: Fox Sports Arizona, TSN4
Projected Line Combinations:
Forwards
Tobias Rieder – Antoine Vermette – Shane Doan
Martin Erat – Martin Hanzal – Sam Gagner
Brendan McMillan – Kyle Chipchura – David Moss
Lucas Lessio – Brendan Shinnimin – Lauri Korpikoski
Scratch: B.J. Crombeen
Defense:
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Zbynek Michalek
Keith Yandle – Michael Stone
Andrew Campbell – Connor Murphy
Scratch: Chris Summers
Goal: Mike Smith
Players to Watch:
1. Tyler Bozak: if the Arizona Coyotes get rid of Antoine Vermette, someone like Tyler Bozak is a good pickup in return. He’s one of the league’s better faceoff specialists, and — although the Toronto media aren’t big fans of him — he’s actually a comparable player to Vermette production-wise. If Toronto is willing to deal him, he’s also a young enough player that he could fit in with the ‘looking for younger skaters, prospects, and picks’ deal. Toronto may be looking for prospects and picks as well, but there’s not much reason that Bozak to Arizona couldn’t work.
Plus, the dynamic with him on the ice often sets the tone for the game itself… because he often plays on a line with Phil Kessel.
2. Brendan Shinnimin: The Arizona Coyotes recalled Shinnimin fresh off his incredible AHL All Star Game experience, and he’s a player that could look to try and impress the team again. He’s been recalled once before, and his selflessness on the ice — particularly when it comes to playing a defensive role and getting to the ugly parts of the ice in order to set up his teammates for more effective plays — made him a great addition to the team when he was recalled last time. Playing against a weakened Toronto, Shinnimin could be quite useful.
3. Cody Franson: Rumor has it the Leafs are looking to deal Franson before he hits UFA status this summer — and with the Leafs all but accepting yet another rebuild in their future, it’s likely that Horachek will be trying to play the young defenseman to his best advantage. He could get even more ice time with Dion Phaneuf out week to week, and that’s either going to be very good for the Coyotes… or very bad.
4. Keith Yandle: if Keith Yandle fetches a nice price before the deadline, he could be headed out of Arizona — but with things still looking unclear regarding where the Coyotes will finish in the standings, it could take quite a bit to send the alternate captain elsewhere. Watch to see how he plays — if he plays well to try and improve the team (and therefore his stock in either a player transaction or free agency), the game could get quite exciting.
**WATCH THE NET. BOTH GOALTENDERS ARE STRUGGLING.**
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