The Coyotes Report: In the Den

After a 15 day long, six game road trip, the Coyotes are heading home. Let’s look at how they fared.

This Week’s Games

@ the Pittsburg Penguins: The Coyotes lost to the Penguins by a score of 6-2. It was a rough game and they looked like they were playing their first game together. Both goals were scored by LW Nick Ritchie (2) and both were on Power Plays.

@ the Boston Bruins: Even though the Coyotes lost this game 6-3, the special teams play continued to be hot. Scoring came from RW Clayton Keller on a Power Play, D Josh Brown (1), and Shayne Gostisbehere (1) scored a shorthanded goal.

@ the Toronto Maple Leafs: The Power Play led the Coyotes to their first win, 4-2. Goals were scored by LW Nick Ritchie (3) on the Power Play, RW Christian Fischer (1), D Shayne Gostisbehere (2) on the Power Play, and LW Lawson Crouse (1) scored an Empty Net goal to seal the victory.

@ the Montreal Canadians: The Coyotes lost 6-2 in a packed house in Montreal. It seems that Rookie Goalie Connor Ingram had a bad night while playing his fifth NHL game. The Coyotes’ goals were scored by D JJ Moser (1) and C Travis Boyd.

@ the Ottawa Senators: The Defense and G Karle Vermelka looked to be puck-watching in this loss of 6-2. Former Coyote Keith Tkachuk’s son Brady scored two goals against Arizona. The Coyotes’ goals came from LW Dylan Guenther (1) and RW Clayton Keller (2).

@ the Columbus Blue Jackets: In front of a crowd of 14,498 Blue jackets Booing fans, the Coyotes whooped the Jackets 6-3. It didn’t even look like the Jackets came to play until the third period. Two goals were scored by D Shayne Gostisbehere (4) with one being a Power Play goal, RW Zack Kassian (1), LW Dylan Guenther (2) on the Power Play, C Jack McBain (1), and LW Lawson Crouse (2) scored an Empty Net Goal.

The Good

Arizona made a small step toward playing more as a unit. In the winning games, the defensemen were jumping into the play and scoring goals. The forwards were sticking up for each other against the opposing team. The goaltending started to get support from the defense. Special teams are rocking on the Power Play, and the Penalty Kill is working hard. It’s a start and the team is still learning.

The Bad

The Coyotes were caught puck-watching instead of being in the correct position. The goalies are letting in weak goals but that could be because the defense is puck-watching. The special teams are not aggressive enough and blocking shots during the Penalty Kill. These are learning points for the team.

How The Coyotes are Trending

This is still the beginning of the season, and the Coyotes are rebuilding so the team needs to learn how to work together. They are improving but against the top teams in the league, they struggle. We will keep this going later in the season to see how things are for the rebuild.

What’s on Tap

Friday, Arizona plays its first game at the new Mullett Arena against the Winnipeg Jets. The Jets have had our number for the most part. Since their inception, they have had a grudge as the Coyotes were the Jets before they came to Phoenix.

After that, they play the New York Rangers on Sunday. Next Tuesday they play the Panthers. Those three games will be in the report next Wednesday.