Slumping Arizona Coyotes face the Nashville Predators at home

Stop me if you have heard this before, but the Arizona Coyotes suffered another tough loss Thursday night. The only bright side was this loss came with a point. In the midst of a six game losing streak (0-3-3) The Coyotes look to end their woes against a very tough Nashville Predators team Saturday Night.

Will they finally snap the losing streak?

View From Nashville

For more info on the Predators check out On The Forecheck

Seemingly year after year the Nashville Predators are always contenders but this year they started the season on the wrong foot and got off to a 3-5-3 start. But after that they really seemed to turn things around and have been 9-5-1 since, and they are starting to look like the contenders that they usually are.

Nashville is a well balanced team. They have a great offense which is sixth in the league with 77 goals scored this year. Pekka Rinne has once again been a very solid goalie this season. The Finnish net minder is only giving up 2.38 goals per game. On the defensive side of the puck P.K. Subban seams to be settling in right at home after the blockbuster trade that brought him south of the Canadian border this summer. He has 17 points this year, good enough for second on team.

View From Arizona

The Coyotes once again fine themselves stuck in a rut this season. In the middle of a six game losing streak Arizona is going to need to bring that fire they played with against Calgary to Saturday nights game if they want to come out of it with a W.

One concerning stat about this losing steak is the fact that they have only scored ten goals during that time. This is a young team that is going to go through growing pains on offense and defense but the team is too talented to continue this offensive slump.

Three Questions

1. Will the losing streak end?- The question that is on everyones mind. The Coyotes are in the midst of a six game losing streak and have to face a tough Nashville team that seemingly always plays a good game verse the Coyotes. It will be a tough one but the Coyotes need to scrap, claw, and fight their way to a W.

2. Jordan Martinook where are you? - The young Coyotes winger got was off to a hot start this season with four points in his first three games. But has been awfully quiet since. He hasn’t recorded a goal in fourteen and only has three assists in that span. Martinook is a key contributor when it comes to the Coyotes secondary scoring as evidenced by his twenty four points last season. With his ice time increasing as of late he is due to light the lamp very soon.

3. Will the Coyotes take advantage of the power play opportunities tonight? - The Coyotes power play hasn’t been pretty as of late. They are 1/11 in their last four games and their power play percentage is only 14.3 which ranks 24th in the entire league. A good power play is very important for an NHL team. You need to be able to take advantage of your opponents mistakes and right now the Coyotes aren’t doing that.

Players to watch

Arizona - Brendan Perlini - The former 12th overall pick was called up by the Coyotes last week after tearing it up in the AHL. He was immediately thrown into the middle of things and has averaged 14.6 minutes in his first three NHL games. With his high expectations Perlini has already shown some flashes of the why the Coyotes drafted him. He is still looking for his first career point and whats a better time to get it when your team is slumping?

Nashville - Viktor Arvidsson - Arguably one of the hottest players on the Predators right now. Arvidsson has been a key contributor to their offense, and in the last 9 games he has four goals and two assists. This season he is second on the team in goals with nine and seventh in assists with seven.

Injury Report

Arizona - After a battle against Calgary Thursday night the Coyotes limp into the game with a chance of missing two key contributors. Oliver Ekman-Larsson took a puck to the face Thursday and is questionable for the game. Equally problematic, Max Domi is on injured reserve, and will be out until at least next week.

Nashville - Ryan Ellis has been on injured reserve for an upper body injury but he could be activated in time for Saturdays game

Puck Drop

Saturdays game starts at 6pm Arizona time. You can watch it on Fox Sports Arizona or Listen to it on ESPN Phoenix 620 AM