The Coyotes traveled to Vancouver to play the Canucks on Thursday night. They lost a game they had earlier deemed to be a critical playoff-caliber contest.
The Coyotes’ intent when they took to the air enroute to the cold weather in Canada was to grab the four points available to them in Vancouver and Edmonton. That result would cap off a successful half (or so) of the NHL season. What they didn’t want to happen is a certain something that has plagued them often thus far this season – inconsistent hockey.
Perhaps in spite of their up and down play, the blue collar Coyotes have managed to do enough things right to deserve the winning record that they have yet help cover up some of their flaws.
The game against the Vancouver Canucks seemed at times more like a ping pong match than a hockey game. The puck wasn’t possessed by either team for very long – back and forth action without much disciplined play was the norm. There was some occasional entertaining and skillful individual play, but the concept of moving up and down the ice as 5-man units seemed foreign to both teams most of the night.
It appeared that the helter-skelter play that was the norm of the evening was compounded by somewhat of a “Jekyll and Hyde” situation for the visitors in white. Fans never knew what iteration of the Coyotes would take the ice at the beginning of a period, and the complexion of Thursday night’s game tended to change a whole lot within the periods.
When the ‘Yotes played deep and cycled in their “O” zone, it posed problems for the Canucks’ “D” men. Unfortunately there was too much puck-watching by the Coyotes and not enough support for their linemates or movement away from the puck to generate many scoring chances.
In essence there was too much “one and done” and loss of the precious puck to the home team. Many of the ‘Yotes seemed invisible at times, mere passengers on a slow-moving train to a destination called defeat. It seemed a blessing that the Canucks were at times just as inept as the Coyotes were.
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It was certainly disappointing to watch the Coyotes’ performance against the Canucks, especially after they made it clear the day before and again pregame that this contest was going to be approached as if it was a playoff game. Coach Tocchet stated that with the NHL break coming up after Saturday’s matinee game in Edmonton, the Coyotes needed to “empty the tank.” Instead, it looked as if the tank was empty from the start.
Let’s hope there’s an effective “response” game that reminds us all of the desert dogs’ resilience come Saturday afternoon in Edmonton. Win and come home to warmer weather, boys. Let’s go Coyotes!