The Arizona Coyotes scoring depth takes a hit in loss of Conor Garland
By Jim Lynch
The Arizona Coyotes are a little weaker on the team’s depth today thanks to an injury to Conor Garland. Moving forward will be difficult for the team.
In the Arizona Coyotes last seven losses the team has lost by failing to score more than two goals. Most of those games were one-goal games, showcasing just how close the Coyotes have been.
Winning some of those games could have changed the fate of the Arizona Coyotes, instead, it looks like we will be missing out on the postseason again thanks to Conor Garland being out for at least a week.
Garland was injured against the Calgary Flames. While the play did look bad at the time, I did not think Garland would be out for long.
INJURY UPDATE: #Yotes forward Conor Garland suffered a lower-body injury versus Calgary on Friday night. Garland is listed as week-to-week.
— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) March 8, 2020
I know that replacing Garland is not going to be an issue, but replacing the depth scoring below him might. In an ideal world, I would want to see the Coyotes give Lawson Crouse a bigger role in the top six over the course of the next few weeks with Garland out. If not Crouse, Vinnie Hinostroza should get another look at it.
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Let’s play Vinnie Hinostroza with players like Barrett Hayton and Phil Kessel, and see if he is worth keeping around after this season. Hinostroza played great last season but seems to have taken a step back as of late.
Moving all these players around is going to make the bottom six that much weaker at scoring goals. I do not care who scores, but we need to score more than two goals if we are going to win hockey games down the stretch.
I know Rick Tocchet is all about playing well defensively in order to win a hockey game, but I think now is the time to start taking some chances in the offensive zone and try and play creatively with the puck, even if that opens things up the other way as well.