Now that the whirlwind trade deadline has passed, it’s time to turn our focus back to the ice. The roster was overhauled by several trades, with ownership and the front office making it clear they intend to tank. How would the Coyotes’ players and coaching staff respond? They seemed to have a different idea, as the team played inspired hockey and fought tooth and nail in just about every contest. Over the past eight games, Arizona went 4-2-2, earning ten points against mostly top-tier teams making a push for the playoffs.
At first, it appeared that the team was going to go into free fall. They were thoroughly outplayed by both the Dallas Stars and Carolina Hurricanes, losing 4-2 and 6-1, respectively. They rebounded with a gutsy performance against the Devils, losing a heartbreaker in overtime 5-4. They went on a tear after that game, winning four of the next five, with the only loss coming in an overtime matchup. They were dominant against both St. Louis and Nashville, winning 6-2 and 4-1. The final three games all went to overtime, with the Coyotes losing to Colorado 3-2 and beating Minnesota and Calgary 5-4 and 4-3.
We have the scores, three stars of the games, and ‘Yotes Notes below.
3 Stars:
1st Star – Tyler Seguin, DAL
2nd Star – Roope Hintz, DAL
3rd Star – Juuso Valimaki, ARI
‘Yotes Notes:
- The Coyotes go up 2-0 in the first, but then give up four straight and lose to the Stars. Keller and Hayton are the goal scorers.
- Ingram made an incredible save, diving from one post to the other and just getting his stick out to block the shot. The shot was so hard the stick went flying from it.
- Dallas missed on several shots, this could have been a 6-2 or even 8-2 game. Defensively it was a terrible showing. Ingram was under constant attack all night long, we gave up a short-handed goal, and the Coyotes were outshot 41-20.