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Arizona Coyotes Prepare For St. Louis Blues’ Visit to Gila River Arena

By Scott Thompson

GLENDALE, ARIZONA - OCTOBER 17: (L-R) Clayton Keller #9, Phil Kessel #81, Oliver Ekman-Larsson #23, Christian Dvorak #18 and Derek Stepan #21 of the Arizona Coyotes celebrate after Kessel scored a power play goal against the Nashville Predators during the first period of the NHL game at Gila River Arena on October 17, 2019 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - OCTOBER 17: (L-R) Clayton Keller #9, Phil Kessel #81, Oliver Ekman-Larsson #23, Christian Dvorak #18 and Derek Stepan #21 of the Arizona Coyotes celebrate after Kessel scored a power play goal against the Nashville Predators during the first period of the NHL game at Gila River Arena on October 17, 2019 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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After losing three straight games for the first time this season, the Coyotes hope they are well-prepared to do battle with the defending NHL champion St. Louis Blues at Gila River Arena on Tuesday night.

The Coyotes are facing some significant challenges as they begin the second half of the season, and it certainly doesn’t help to be facing the red hot St. Louis Blues on New Year’s Eve. Nevertheless, they are hockey professionals that are paid to make necessary adjustments, and hopefully, the team will do so and rise to this important occasion.

A strong performance and win at home against the Blues would be the perfect way for the Coyotes to celebrate the beginning of a new year. It’s quite the challenge, though, as the Blues are on an 8-game winning streak while the Coyotes have lost three in a row and are heading south.

Are the Coyotes capable of beating the St. Louis Blues at home? Yes, if they play a nearly perfect game using their disciplined “defense first” style of play and then using rushes to quickly counterattack and maintain possession of the puck.

Protecting the house has seemed to be an impossible task lately, as defensive lapses and poor positioning have continued to doom the ‘Yotes. Goalkeepers cannot be expected to clean up after the blue liners’ mistakes night in and night out.

The Coyotes sit third in the Pacific Division standings and are in jeopardy of falling further behind. Prior to the ‘Yotes’ game tonight, the Anaheim Ducks (who come to town on Thursday night) played in Las Vegas in a matinee tilt. If the Golden Knights win, they will be four points better than the Coyotes at puck drop this evening.

Beefing up and strengthening the desert dogs’ offensive corp is always a good thing, but games and titles are usually won via top-notch goalkeeping and solid defensive play. If that aspect of the Coyotes’ game gets solidified and defensive errors are minimized, the momentum will carry over into more scoring opportunities in their “O” zone as the team plays as a five-man unit.

Another critical need for the Coyotes is immediate improvement on the power play. There’s a great deal of talent on the ice when the first PP unit is present, but there’s not much to show for it lately. Talent (potential) is nice, but goals (results) are necessary to win games! Reputations and past glory are nice things to chat about, but what have the Coyotes’ big guns done for the ‘Yotes lately that has contributed to winning games?

Let’s hope that the Arizona Coyotes snap out of their collective funk tonight and carry their rediscovered momentum into and through the new year. Let’s go Coyotes!

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