Arizona Coyotes: Studs and Duds Versus Tampa, Colorado, and St. Louis
The Coyotes drew a real short straw in scheduling, with the team in the middle of facing the last six Stanley Cup champions. Kicking things off with the defending champion Golden Knights, the gauntlet continued with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Colorado Avalanche, and St. Louis Blues. After taking down the defending champs in Vegas, the Coyotes returned to Tempe, looking to keep momentum and feed off the home crowd at Mullett Arena.
They did not disappoint, establishing a four-game winning streak and taking all three matchups. In the first game, the Coyotes executed an impressive game plan and minimized nearly all mistakes, resulting in a 3-1 victory. Connor Ingram got the start for the second straight game, and his performance parlayed into four consecutive starts, winning all of them. The Coyotes and Avalanche played another potential game of the year, with the ‘Yotes taking it in OT 4-3 and following it up with a strong showing against St. Louis. Defeating the Blues 4-1, they end up splitting the season series with them.
The Coyotes broadcast team mentioned that after a three-game skid, at practice before traveling out to Vegas, head coach André Tourigny got after this team. An adept skill of his, he read his locker room right and they responded resoundingly. Their response and buy-in to the head coach’s vision have propelled them, and they are currently one of the hottest teams in the NHL.
Arizona vs. Tampa Bay
Studs
Michael Carcone
Carcone was stellar against the Lightning, having one of his best games of the season. He was a presence in all phases and put two goals in the net. He and Josh Brown set the tone early, as Carcone followed up Brown’s fight with a goal. Later he netted a sweet five-hole goal in the second period.
Alex Kerfoot
Kerfoot has started coming into his own, and his play against Tampa accentuated that. He was one of the primary offensive facilitators, and his play was crucial as he assisted on two of the Coyotes’ three goals. With Carcone and Kerfoot on the same line, Arizona has developed a formidable top three lines.
Travis Boyd
Travis Boyd is a grinder who has earned the trust of head coach André Tourigny and as a result, he and the rest of the fourth line have been playing more and getting crucial ice time. That has paid off as he was a constant force of pressure on the Lightning and netted his first goal of the year.
Connor Ingram
Ingram has been the hot hand, and the more consistent goalie over the season. After shutting out the Golden Knights, he played near lights out against the Lightning. Against two of the best teams in the league, Ingram faced 65 shots and only surrendered one goal.
The blue liners and defensive zone play
The blue line and defensive zone play were buzzing all game and smothered the Lightning for most of 60 minutes. They looked so much better than they had the past couple of weeks and the pressure they generated attributed to scoring plays.
This game was a dominant showing by the Coyotes across the entire lineup. There were no real duds in this one, just great hockey by the home team.
Arizona vs. Colorado
Studs
Coyotes’ physical play and constant pressure
Coming into this game the Avalanche were on a serious role, 7-1 in their last eight games. This one didn’t disappoint as it was a back-and-forth affair that went into the waning seconds of overtime. From the first puck drop, the Coyotes were physical and put constant pressure on Colorado, especially on the forecheck. You could tell that the Avalanche were not comfortable in their zone under that kind of pressure, and that type of play is what led to the Coyotes winning this one. They have begun to establish that physical identity and it’s leading to wins against top-tier teams.
Liam O’Brien
Early in the second period, Liam O’Brien tipped in the tying goal. Aside from scoring, he has taken perfectly to his role on this team, agitating the opponent, hitting, and playing with constant pressure. Later on in the matchup, Boyd took a big hit from Josh Manson into the boards which resulted in a multi-week upper-body injury. Within seconds O’Brien stepped up and took Manson on in a fight. He and Josh Brown are not afraid to mix it up and defend their teammates and they are invaluable for that.
Matt Dumba
Dumba has been a bit shaky, but this was one of his better games of the year. The veteran leader was a force in this one. He blocked shots, played stifling defense, and led the team in hits. One hit in particular occurred on a penalty kill, where he crushed an Avs player, which led to a shorthanded breakaway for Arizona.
Duds
Penalty Kill
The streak had to end eventually, and it came against the Avalanche. They scored twice on the Coyotes penalty kill, and it was the primary catalyst for what kept the Avalanche in the game. While Colorado has a top-15 power play, you don’t want to see your special teams give up multiple goals in a game on top of your streak of consecutive successful PKs ending at 21.
Arizona vs. St. Louis
Studs
Alex Kerfoot
Kerfoot’s strong play continued here. Forty seconds into this one, on an early strong forecheck that the Blues didn’t seem ready for, he feeds it to Carcone for the first of the Coyotes’ four goals. Later he feeds it to Schmaltz with a sweet pass on the power play to net the second goal. Anytime he was on the ice, he was making plays. He wrapped up his excellent game with a near-rink-long empty netter to finally put it out of reach of the Blues late in the third period.
Connor Ingram
Make it four starts in a row for Ingram, and coming off a tough matchup with Colorado, he responded resoundingly. He made several great saves in this one, and after the dominant first period by the Coyotes, he kept the door shut for most of the second and third periods when they began to coast a bit. His play has been strong enough to warrant going to him as the primary goalie for the foreseeable future.
Neutral zone play
The Coyotes’ neutral zone has been really good the past few games, and against the Blues that continued. Their neutral zone play really cuts down on their opponent’s speed and limits their transition game, which is where the Coyotes can struggle to match up. It’s a big part of their recent success, as well as a big part of their identity. The more physical they are and the more pressure they apply, the better.
Duds
The referees
There were multiple questionable calls in this one, and thankfully the Coyotes’ played well enough to not let it affect the outcome. With the Blues on the power play, Pavel Buchnevich hits Josh Brown into Ingram on a dangerous play and Brown gets after him. However, the refs give offsetting penalties rather than taking the dangerous hit into account for Brown’s reaction. Another example from late in the third, they missed an obvious interference on the Coyotes after the Blues pulled the goalie. At that point, the Blues were still in the game and it could have had a major impact had St. Louis capitalized.
Sean Durzi
Durzi took a dumb penalty in the second period while on the bench. He was called for interference when Schenn was hit into the bench area by O’Brien. He held Schenn down by his head for several seconds to keep him from returning to the ice. A second or two would he would have most likely gotten away with, but this was obvious. Up 3-0 at the time, it wasn’t dire but you could tell André Tourigny was not happy.
Arizona’s killer instinct
Arizona dominated the first period and got a big lead early. After going up 3-0, they began coasting a bit in the second period and then got sloppy late in the third period, turning it over and giving up a goal that gave the Blues some life. Then the Blues had a several-minute man advantage when they pulled the goalie. Instead of finishing it, it felt like the Coyotes were just hanging on until Kerfoot scored the empty netter with 1:15 left.