Game Preview
The Arizona Coyotes’ five-game road trip comes to an end tonight against the Winnipeg Jets. Two weeks ago today, the Coyotes hosted the Jets at Mullett Arena, a game they lost 5-3.
Since that loss, the Coyotes have gone 3-1-1 with wins over the Seattle Kraken, Nashville Predators, and the Columbus Blue Jackets. Their play has been inconsistent, but they have shown that they can come back from a deficit and win games.
Unfortunately, the Coyotes have racked up a series of injuries since they last played the Jets. Jack McBain, Barrett Hayton, Juuso Välimäki, Travis Dermott, and Matias Maccelli all played against the Jets and have sustained injuries since. Hayton was confirmed to be week-to-week after an injury against the Blue Jackets. Maccelli took a puck up high and lost some teeth in that game and will likely be the first to return.
With so many injuries, the Coyotes need to find a way to stay out of the box. Hayton and McBain were significant parts of the Coyotes’ penalty kill, and the Coyotes probably don’t want to see how it does without them.
While the Coyotes embarked on a road trip, the Jets mainly stayed home. They are 4-1-0 since they last saw the Desert Dogs, with their one loss being a 3-2 defeat by the Dallas Stars. They beat the St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators, New Jersey Devils, and the Buffalo Sabres, with the Sabres game being a 3-2 victory last night.
Winnipeg scored at least three goals in all but one of the games they played, their loss to the Dallas Stars. Keeping this a low-scoring game is in the Coyotes’ best interest tonight.
Arizona should have the edge on special teams, even if they don’t want to test it. Arizona has the fourth-best power play compared to the Jets, who are 21st. The Jets are one of the teams with a worse penalty kill than the Coyotes (20th vs 27th), but again, the Coyotes are missing some key penalty killers, so they probably shouldn’t stress-test it.
Players to Watch
Arizona: Lawson Crouse – Crouse has goals in back-to-back games and is likely to take a more prominent role with the injuries piling up. He had a goal the last time these two teams met.
Winnipeg: Cole Perfetti – After being limited to just an assist against the Coyotes, Perfetti responded with a five-game goal streak. He and Josh Morrissey are tied for third on the Jets with 14 points.
Injuries
Arizona: Barrett Hayton, Juuso Välimäki, Jack McBain, Travis Dermott, Matias Maccelli
Winnipeg: Rasmus Kupari, Gabriel Vilardi
Puck Drop
Tonight’s game will be at 5:00 p.m. Arizona time and will air on Scripps.