After losing three straight the Arizona Coyotes have saw their four point lead over the San Jose Sharks dwindle and disappear. Tonight they face the Sharks in a crucial Pacific Division matchup.
The Arizona Coyotes are 10-1-2 against the Pacific Division in 2015-16.
They will need every bit of that strong record and more tonight as they face the San Jose Sharks, the very team that just leapfrogged the Yotes in the standings due to games played.
The Sharks have had quite the up and down campaign themselves, but a win against the Coyotes on Thursday night would give them a two point cushion over Arizona and Vancouver while holding a game in hand over the Coyotes and two games in hand over the Canucks.
“Both teams will look at the standings and say, ‘This is a big game,’” coach Dave Tippett said. “We want to be prepared for it.”
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For the Arizona Coyotes, getting a win against San Jose is imperative for more than just points.
The team’s recent special teams played has resulted in three straight losses hung largely on the back of a penalty kill that has slipped from a season high ranking of 11th at the twenty game mark all the way to 28th in the league.
The Coyotes are now killing just 76.4% of penalties. In recent games, they are lucky to be batting .500 on the kill and it’s shown no sign of improvement.
If Dave Tippett can get even a league average output out of the penalty kill and power play going forward it will be a marked improvement over the past several games.
If not, the Arizona Coyotes could see these playoff hopes begin to dwindle rapidly in a packed division race.
Week 15 Power Rankings
NHL.com — this week: 11 | last week: unranked
"Good: They entered play Thursday having allowed the first goal in 21 of their 42 games but they were 9-10-2 in those games.Not so Good: They allowed at least one power-play goal in eight of their previous 10 games before playing the Red Wings on Thursday. Their penalty kill ranked 25th in the League (77.9 percent)."
ESPN.com — this week: 10 | last week: 6
"The Coyotes came up dry against the Devils in a 2-0 loss Saturday but still have points in seven of eight to continue to hold down second in the Pacific. It will be interesting to see how Jarred Tinordi finds a place after the John Scott trade."
The Hockey News — this week: 20 | last week: 4
"After being a healthy scratch nine times in a 13-game stretch, Steve Downie was sent by the Coyotes to the minors to get his game in order."
NESN — this week: 16 | last week: 14
"The Coyotes have lost three straight games but still sit in a playoff spot because the Pacific Division is horrendous."
Next: Coyotes Player Grades For Week 15
CSN — this week: 11 | last week: 8
"Arizona’s seven-game point streak was snapped on Saturday. It was their first regulation loss since Dec. 29. It was also the first game since Dec. 27 in which Louis Domingue did not play."
Fox Sports — this week: 13 | last week: 16
"Oliver Ekman-Larsson has really turned into one of the top blue liners in the NHL."
The Arizona Coyotes’ rankings are all over the map this week.
From as far down as 20th to as high up as 10th, it really goes to show the volatile nature of the team’s season thus far. Some of the rankings were right after the Detroit loss while others were after all three losses, so they are a bit all over the map.
It’s interesting that only one article notes the special teams issues that directly contributed to such a bad week of hockey in the desert.
If, however, the Coyotes can finish out this home stand with two Pacific Division wins?
Things would certainly be looking good going forward.