Arizona Coyotes: Has The Absence of Martin Hanzal Affected Domi And Duclair?
Arizona Coyotes center Martin Hanzal has been out of the lineup for eleven of the team’s past twelve games. How much have the Coyotes missed Hanzal?
The Arizona Coyotes are a different team with Martin Hanzal in the lineup. Along with being an alternate captain on the ice, the 6’6, 230 pound center is a vital cog down the middle for the Yotes.
His hot start to the season was a big catalyst in cultivating the early goal scoring onslaught of Anthony Duclair and to a lesser extent Max Domi.
Their synergy and goal-scoring theatrics propelled the Killer D’s into the hearts of Coyotes fans as well as the NHL’s collective conscience, while Hanzal racked up the assists behind them.
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The Coyotes center assisted on six of Duclair’s first seven goals as well as two of Max Domi’s first four tallies. Would the Killer D’s – particularly Duclair – have been as “killer” without Martin Hanzal?
There’s no doubt their production has slowed down considerably in recent weeks. The dry spell coincides with Hanzal’s absence.
Hanzal has missed 11 of the Coyotes last 12 games since playing against Carolina on December 6th.
One could make the case that Domi and Duclair’s goal scoring dried up as the Coyotes’ center depth took a hit with injuries galore. On the other hand, you could also argue that part of Domi and the Duke’s struggles are simply because they’ve encountered the fabled “rookie wall”.
Whatever the catalyst, Max Domi has not found the net since scoring two goals against Buffalo on December 4th. Meanwhile Anthony Duclair had just two goals between December 12th and the January 2nd game against Edmonton.
It’s hard to believe that those statistics are mere coincidence.
Strangely, however, if you break down the Arizona Coyotes’ goals for per game the team has managed 2.92 goals for in their 13 games without Hanzal. The Yotes scored an average of 2.73 goals for in the 26 games he was suited up.
That seems counter-intuitive, but the Coyotes have had several 4 and 5 goal games since Hanzal’s absence.
Regardless, there’s no doubt that the Arizona Coyotes are a more complete unit with Martin Hanzal in the fold. If he can shake off his injury woes and stay on the ice, he should easily be able to top his career high point total of 40 thanks to the young guns in the Coyotes lineup.
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The good news is that the big man will be back soon. He was taking line rushes with Tobias Rieder and Anthony Duclair yesterday at practice.
“Hanzal continues to progress, and I think he’s got a chance to play Thursday,” Tippett said.
Hopefully we see him in Calgary.