GDT Game 47: End of the road trip

Game Preview

Sometimes there is a game where you need to just burn the tape. Forget what happened, scrub if from your mind. There is no reason to dwell on it, best to just move on.

But fans are not allowed the luxury of forgetting. Last night the Arizona Coyotes played the Tampa Bay Lightning and lost horribly. The Coyotes were shut out for the third time this season, losing 4-0 to the Lightning.

With the way the Lightning have been playing lately, this was always going to be a tough matchup. The Coyotes were outshot, won only 36% of the faceoffs, and didn’t score on either of their power plays. Perhaps the best thing about the Coyotes game was the Lightning weren’t able to score on their power play opportunity.

While many thought the Coyotes would struggle with both Darcy Kuemper and Antti Raanta sidelined with injuries, you can not blame this loss on goaltender Adin Hill. The team in front of him didn’t do him any favors, and every defenseman was a minus.

Luckily, the Los Angeles Kings did the Coyotes a favor last night. They beat the Vegas Golden Knights 5-2 so the Coyotes are still on top of the Pacific.

The Carolina Hurricanes are a hard team to put a finger on. They currently have the first Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference and are 5-5-0 in their last ten games. Last season they made it to the Eastern Conference Finals after nine seasons of missing the playoffs.

Unlike the Coyotes, Carolina hasn’t played since Tuesday when the went to overtime against the Philadelphia Flyers. At one point the Hurricanes lead 4-2, only to have the Flyers come back and score two unanswered goals.

Players to Watch

Arizona: Phil Kessel - Kessel had three assists the last time the Coyotes scored a goal and helped Lawson Crouse get his tenth goal of the season.

Carolina: Dougie Hamilton - Hamilton got the game-winning goal against the Flyers and had an assist on the night.

Injuries

Arizona: Antti Raanta (lower body), Darcy Kuemper (lower body), Niklas Hjalmarsson (leg) Barrett Hayton (upper body)

Carolina: Justin Williams (conditioning)

Puck Drop

Tonight’s game will be at 5:30 pm Arizona time and will air on ESPN +, Fox Sports Arizona Plus and Fox Sports 910 AM.