Arizona Coyotes playoff hope hinges on the fall of other teams
By Jim Lynch
The Arizona Coyotes are not the only team trying to make the wildcard race within the western conference, and they are not the hottest team amongst them. For the Coyotes to make the playoffs someone else has to fall soon.
The Chicago Blackhawks, Calgary Flames, Nashville Predators, Winnipeg Jets, and Minnesota Wild are all vying for the same playoff spots. I thought the Pacific Division had the closest race to the playoffs, but when you look at the bottom four teams in the western conference they are all divided by a single point.
The Predators and Jets have 59 points, the Wild and Blackhawks have 58 points, and the Calgary Flames have 60. Arizona currently leads the pack with 61 points, but they also have no games in hand on any opponent. They have actually played the most games in the conference at 56 games so far.
If Arizona is going to make the playoffs they are going to need to watch these five teams lose some games down the stretch. In fact when you look at these teams last five games Arizona has the worst record. The Coyotes are currently 2-5-3 in their last ten games, and while I would like to see that improved, we also need to see our opponent’s records fall off. Chicago is 6-2-2 in their last ten, Nashville, and Minnesota are 6-4.
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With no games coming up against any of these opponents till March we need to hope some else can knock these teams down a notch. A big question right now on my mind is whether or not the Coyotes should try and add another piece to their locker room. Your ‘Yotes Notes Question is: Do you think the Coyotes should try and add a piece to make the playoffs?
The NHL already got their big blockbuster trade when Taylor Hall came to Arizona, and since then we have fallen off the map by far, but we do have some 26 more games to go!