The Arizona Coyotes wanted to play their normally disciplined, “defense first” style of hockey to control the game against the talented Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night. The Leafs, however, had something else planned altogether.
The game against the Toronto Maple Leafs was always going to be closely watched by a lot of hockey fans. After all, they’re a popular team with a host of big-name stars, including a local kid from Scottsdale, Arizona, named Auston Matthews. Oh yeah, and they have a new head coach too, and you can bet that the players wanted to impress him last night. It appears as if they did.
The Toronto Maple Leafs entered the ‘Yotes’ “D” zone early and often with their bevy of skillful players, supported by their own “D” men. If that sounds familiar, it’s because the Coyotes routinely employ the same tactics.
This time, however, it appeared as if the Coyotes were tentative, perhaps giving the vaunted Maple Leafs’ attack a bit too much respect. The ‘Yotes appeared to be skating on their heels for most of the game, whereas the Maple Leafs were on their “front feet” and being much more aggressive in their attacking zone.
The Arizona Coyotes and their fans, however, are hoping that the collective ugliness that occurred right before their eyes at Gila River Arena on Thursday night was merely an anomaly, an aberration that benefited the Maple Leafs but left the local Arizona hockey fans temporarily embarrassed and disappointed.
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The odds certainly favored the Maple Leafs finally winning a game sometime soon after losing the past 6, but the Arizona Coyotes assisted them in their quest in several ways. They failed to win many face-offs, sent errant passes to vacant areas on the ice (or to players wearing white sweaters), and chased the Maple Leafs’ skillful players around the ‘Yotes’ “D” zone like inexperienced youth hockey players.
It is up to the Coyotes’ coaching staff to assess how and why the debacle occurred and to fix it, especially after they had witnessed such effective, exciting hockey in the games that preceded this downer.
The Coyotes next play the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday afternoon in L.A. The Kings defeated the first-place Edmonton Oilers following the Coyotes’ 3 to 1 loss to the Maple Leafs on Thursday night. Will the Kings consider the Coyotes contest a “revenge” game? Regardless, the prideful Kings will do what they can to win in their own building against its Pacific Division rival. Let’s go Coyotes!