Arizona Coyotes power play leads team against Jets for 2nd victory of the year

What have we been saying for the past few days? You need to score power play goals if you want to win games! The Arizona Coyotes did just that tonight against the Winnipeg Jets, let’s recap the game.

Two goals, the Arizona Coyotes won by just two goals tonight. Would you look at that, two goals were scored on the power play tonight, I guess it really does make the difference. Yesterday we had a piece about how the Arizona Coyotes could begin to fix their power play, and it looks like they read it!

The Coyotes did fail to score first in the game, so there is still room for improvement but tonight’s result was a win. The team looked energized and united in the absence of Niklas Hjalmarsson and rallied to win.

Scoring late in a period can really help with momentum going forward, and Conor Garland did just that when he scored a deflected goal off of Oliver Ekman-Larsson‘s shot from the point. I know that we have touched on having a net front presence can be a game changer before today’s game, and the Coyotes really did that tonight.

The only issue I saw tonight from the Coyotes was a failure to keep the net clear during a penalty kill. They have done a good job predicting where the puck is going, and having a quick stick to stop passes but they have kept the slot open in Hjalmarsson’s absence. The ‘Yotes did get the win though so we will forgive them for that.

The two power play goals both were on plays with rebounds, and a big net front presence from your forwards down low. Creating second and third opportunities is huge during any game, especially when you are trying to score on the power play.

The second Coyotes power play did not look that great until Christian Dvorak scored. The team looked sloppy and could hardly get the puck into the offensive zone after it was cleared. I think one area the Coyotes need to work on is entrances, limiting passes and working to get the puck up ice will lead to a better, more productive power play.

The Arizona Coyotes penalty kill did give up one goal tonight, however they played really well. Grabner had a great steal during the third period to steal the puck, and the PK continued to pressure and defend against the Jets power play.

It has been a long time since the Coyotes won in Winnipeg and they finally did it. They won the game by paying attention to detail and trying to do everything they can right systematically. Sounds to me like they were trying to win for someone watching at home.

Here is our 3 stars of the night from tonights game!

3 The special teams

The Arizona Coyotes special teams came up big tonight in the Coyotes win. If it was not for the ‘Yotes first two power play goals of the season they would not have won tonight. Plus if it was not for the Coyotes 4 stops out of 6 power plays for the Jets, the Coyotes would not have won. (technically the argument could be made that their was only 5 power plays but one was a double minor)

The special teams was the difference tonight for the Coyotes, and they should be proud of the win they had tonight.

2 Schmaltz, Dvorak, and Garland

This one line scored all the goals for the team last night . They were unstoppable. Nick Schmaltz is stepping up the player the Arizona Coyotes thought he could be, which is great for the team. I loved the way this group played tonight, and hope we see them again soon.

I would have said that maybe Barrett Hayton deserves another opportunity on this line before the game tonight, but honestly that ship sailed with how well they played as a group. Barrett Hayton can play with other players on the team, maybe give him Kessel’s spot, he is not scoring goals.

1 Darcy Kuemper

Kuemper is on a hot streak, and continued that streak last night only giving up 2 goals against a very skilled offensive Jets team.

It will be interesting to see who gets the start on Thursday against the Predators, who do you think will start? (answer in the comments)