Arizona Coyotes Prove Hearts Are Still Beating in Vancouver Win
The Arizona Coyotes’ come-from-behind performance in Vancouver was an indication that the Desert Dogs aren’t quite finished yet.
The Arizona Coyotes weren’t particularly flashy on Wednesday night in Vancouver and their play was pretty much standard fare for a road game.
What WAS impressive, though, was the ‘Yotes collective reaction and response to the Vancouver Canucks‘ (74 points) scoring of two quick goals in the third period. Rather than lying down, whimpering, and curling up in a fetal position, Arizona’s road warriors took the game to the hometown boys in front of a boisterous crowd and scored two more goals of their own.
The Coyotes cranked up their game and put pressure on the Vancouver defense with their aggressive forechecking in the Canucks’ “D” zone. The local boys couldn’t handle the pressure and, being a little lacking in confidence (based upon losing three games in a row), the boys in blue coughed up the puck and ultimately the game.
How refreshing it was to see the Coyotes maintain their composure under those stressful circumstances rather than fold under the pressure! Knowing that they needed to win and being able to do it was encouraging and should give the ‘Yotes confidence going into their tilt with the host Calgary Flames (77 points) on Friday night.
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Hockey becomes more physical as the playoffs near, and referees will sometimes put their whistles “away” in preparation for NHL tournament play. The Coyotes responded well to the Canucks’ attempt to physically intimidate them, however, except perhaps when Clayton Keller took offense to being slammed head first into the boards and engaged in some immediate vigilante justice on the ice. It was nice to see Keller show some fiery “attitude” but maybe he should have delayed his retribution for a little while to avoid the penalty.
The playoff situation remains fluid and teams will continue to jockey for position on a daily basis. As of Thursday, the Canucks, Coyotes, and Winnipeg Jets all have 74 points, and the ‘Yotes play the Jets after the Calgary game. The Minnesota Wild and Nashville Predators are at 73 and 72 points respectively.
Nashville hosts the Dallas Stars, the San Jose Sharks host the Minnesota Wild, and the Chicago Blackhawks (68 points) entertain the Edmonton Oilers (80 points) on Thursday night.
Based upon the Coyotes’ positive performance on Wednesday night, there is a renewed optimism about their playoff chances. With inconsistent play being their biggest challenge throughout the season, however, we’ll just have to wait and see. Regardless, these are indeed exciting times for the playoff hopefuls. Let’s go Coyotes!