The Arizona Coyotes showed their flaws last night against the St. Louis Blues in a game that showed you can always look worse on the ice.
The Arizona Coyotes put 14 shots on net last night, just a measly 14 shots on goal. I know one thing is for certain after last night’s game. Jordan Binnington just recorded the easiest shut out he is ever going to have in his career. Binnington faced 14 shots on goal, 14 shots that varied from shots from the blue line to shots that barely got through to the goalie. The Coyotes were shut down last night, and there are no words to describe the team’s performance.
Very rarely do you see a goalie for a losing team get a star of the game, but last night’s game was no ordinary night for Antti Raanta. Raanta put up 45 saves on 46 shots. I thought if any Coyote was going to score a goal last night it would be Raanta, as he was the only player who showed up to play.
Once the St. Louis Blues scored thanks to a goal by Ryan O’Reilly with 8 minutes left to go in the game the Coyotes fate was sealed. Once the third period started I started to watch the clock in the hopes that Antti Raanta would somehow be able to push this game to OT, but you had to figure the Blues would eventually put one puck past Raanta.
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This game is going to haunt this team for a while now as we needed those two points for our placement in the division. Now we are on the outside looking in for the playoffs with just 18 more games to go this season. The Coyotes are behind the Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets who have 68 and 69 points respectively. If you think things could not get worse for the Coyotes I would like to remind you that we have played more games than anyone in our division, and these games could make the difference.
The Coyotes are currently on a two-game losing streak and have not played their best hockey in a while. Unfortunately, we get to face-off against the Tampa Bay Lightning in our next game on Saturday. Finding a way to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning would definitely be a good way to kick off a three-game homestand!