Arizona Coyotes Struck by Lightning in Tampa, Florida – Lose 4 to 0
The Coyotes went toe-to-toe with the sizzling Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night, hoping to duplicate their Tuesday night success. Nope, that didn’t happen, and it wasn’t pretty.
Well, the marquee match up everyone expected to see between the Arizona Coyotes and the Tampa Bay Lightning was indeed exciting to watch – if you were a Lightning fan. Yep, the Arizona group were thoroughly embarrassed in Tampa on Thursday night, as the Lightning beat them soundly 4 to 0, their 9th straight victory.
It seemed like an eternity since the desert dogs were last held to zero, zip, nada goals (December 6 actually). Puck luck was definitely on the side of the home team, and a few slices of humble pie were served to the deflated ‘Yotes between periods and again in the clubhouse post-game. It was simply a matter of who wanted it more and, on this night, it was the Lightning by a landslide – they deserved it.
The boys in white seemed to be missing the magic they had on Tuesday night. The Lightning consistently beat the Coyotes to the puck, and after the Lightning scored two quick goals at the end of the first period, the ‘Yotes appeared as if they were begging for the first intermission to finally arrive.
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The second period wasn’t any better for the Coyotes, as they gave up two more goals in the frame and had a heck of a time clearing pucks out of their “D” zone. At times it seemed as if the Lightning had seven skaters on the ice, and they kept attacking in waves. It can seem that way when your forwards get caught up ice and don’t skate their butts back to help the blueliners.
When an extremely talented team has the time and space to maneuver, it can create hell for the opposition, and that nightmare scenario continued through the third period. The Lightning didn’t score in the final frame, thankfully, and I believe I could hear many Coyotes’ fans praying that the boys would at least score a shutout-busting goal. Well, all prayers aren’t answered and that didn’t happen either.
Thank goodness that an 82-game regular season gives teams a chance to get the stink out of a highly-forgettable game, and that applies to the Coyotes tonight. They’ll be hopping on a plane to Raleigh, North Carolina to play the Hurricanes tomorrow night. Oh great, another team with a natural disaster as their identity.
Coyotes need to take advantage of weakened division. dark. Next
As the saying goes after a Coyotes’ loss, “it’s only one game,” so don’t get your undies in a bunch ‘Yotes’ fans. Let’s hope for a rebound win tomorrow night and another at home on Sunday.
Let’s go Coyotes!