Coyotes Game Previews

Arizona Coyotes hope to repeat past success versus the Winnipeg Jets

The Arizona Coyotes travel to Manitoba to take on the Winnipeg Jets.

By Brendan Porter@brendanporter Jan 18, 2015, 11:00am MST

The last time the Arizona Coyotes played the Winnipeg Jets, nearly everything went right. The Coyotes hope some of that magic carries over when they visit Winnipeg on the second half of a road back-to-back.

Matchup at a Glance

	Arizona Coyotes	Winnipeg Jets
Points	36 (6th Pacific)	56 (4th Central)
Goals For	2.23 (26th)	2.70 (17th)
Goals Against	3.27 (T-27th)	2.39 (6th)
Power Play	21.7% (7th)	17.8% (18th)
Penalty Kill	75.3% (27th)	83.6% (9th)
5v5 Corsi For	49.1% (T-21st)	51.7% (10th)
PDO	97.3 (T-30th)	100.9 (T-10th)

View from Arizona

If nothing else, the Coyotes demonstrated that Devan Dubnyk is in the middle of a career renaissance by losing to him 3-1 against the Minnesota Wild. The Wild are a good example of what balanced scoring, solid defense, and competent goaltending can do since the addition of Dubnyk.

As far as the future goes, Arizona has to be encouraged by the strong play of both Mikkel Boedker and Antoine Vermette. Boedker now leads the team in goals, which will be critical as Arizona attempts to retool its offense, while Vermette's increased production makes him a more valuable trade target for teams in the market for a second line center.

View from Winnipeg

Tonight's Opposition

Winnipeg Jets blog Arctic Ice Hockey

Will there be a Whiteout in Winnipeg this year?

The Jets' play this season certainly makes that a possibility. Winnipeg is on a three-game winning streak, including convincing victories on the road against both the Dallas Stars and Chicago Blackhawks. They currently have a five-point lead on the Calgary Flames for the first Wild Card spot, and have more points than the second and third place teams in the Pacific Division.

Making things better for the Jets, the roster is getting healthy again. Evander Kane, Zach Bogosian, and Toby Enstrom are all back after missing some significant time this season. A repaired defensive corps that was already in the Top 10 in goals allowed is a good sign towards postseason hockey in Winnipeg.

Keys to the Game

Manage the Game Early - Road back-to-backs tend to be unkind to teams that can't control possession, especially as the game wears on. If the Coyotes limit the work they have to do defensively in the early stretches, they should have more energy during the rest of the game.
No Penalties - Arizona's penalty kill is slowly making its way up the standings, but it is still the most vulnerable part of the team overall. Chasing a game is hard, but chasing it while shorthanded is almost impossible.
Keep Making Progress - Boedker and Tobias Rieder play their best when paired with skilled teammates. Arizona should try to give their flashy forwards the best possible chance to show their skill.

Who's Hot

Boedker has 14 goals and 14 assists on the year. Five of those goals have come in the past five games. Though he tends to take flak for being streaky, there are very few forwards in the league who aren't.

Kane has three goals in his past five games since returning from injury. Given the success of the Blake Wheeler-Bryan Little-Andrew Ladd line, Winnipeg is poised to pack a powerful punch in its Top-6.

Injury Report

Arizona will be without the services of Brandon Gormley (lower body), who remains on injured reserve. Shane Doan (bone bruise) has missed the past two games, but is skating and will try to return for tonight's contest.

The Jets still have defensemen Grant Clitsome (undisclosed) and Jacob Trouba (undisclosed) on injured reserve until at least February. Perreault (arm) is out indefinitely after taking a cheap shot from Blackhawks' forward Daniel Carcillo in Friday night's game.

Puck Drop

Tonight's game begins at 5 p.m. Arizona time. You can watch the game on FOX Sports Arizona or listen on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.