Game Preview
The 2023-24 season has started, and the Arizona Coyotes are off to a great start. The Coyotes faced off against a very good New Jersey Devils team and walked away with two points after winning in the shootout.
It wasn’t a perfect game for the Desert Dogs, although it is too early to know if the hiccups will be consistent issues. A big problem was the number of penalties the Desert Dogs took and the New Jersey comeback it facilitated.
The Coyotes took the third most penalties last season, taking 393 penalties for 984 penalty minutes. The impact of the penalties is hard to quantify, but given the Coyotes had the seventh-worst penalty kill in the league, it was far from ideal.
Penalties were a big issue for the Coyotes last Friday, especially when they doubled up on them. Not long into the middle frame, the Coyotes were up 2-0 thanks to goals from Matt Dumba and Sean Durzi. But the Devils would score the next three unanswered goals on a 4-on-4, a 4-on-3, and a 5-on-3, showing how big an impact penalties can have. Thankfully, the Desert Dogs were able to stay out of the box for the third period, allowing the team to tie the game with a power play goal of their own.
The new additions showed up big in the Coyotes’ first game and will hopefully continue to do so. Along with Dumba and Durzi scoring the game’s first two goals, rookie Logan Cooley had a two-assist night, including a beauty of a pass to Nick Schmaltz.
Per Craig Morgan of PHNX, goaltender Connor Ingram will get the start tonight, with Karel Vejmelka starting tomorrow against the Islanders. Ingram played in 27 games last season and recorded a .907 save percentage and 3.37 goals-against average.
After beating the Devils on Friday, the Coyotes will face off the New York Rangers this afternoon at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers are currently 1-1-0 this season and come into today’s game after falling 5-3 to the Columbus Blue Jackets last Saturday.
New York may have lost the game, but they didn’t go down without a fight. The Blue Jackets had a 4-1 lead going into the final frame, but the Rangers kept things interesting. Will Cuylle briefly cut the Blue Jacket’s lead to two before Justin Danforth regained the three-goal cushion, and Chris Kreider gave the Rangers one last goal with 36 seconds left.
New York also outshot the Blue Jackets 17-2 in the final frame, which would have been more impressive if the Blue Jackets hadn’t scored on one of their two shots on goal.
The Rangers made a few key changes this past offseason. They fired head coach Gerald Gallant and brought in Peter Laviolette, Phil Housley, Dan Muse, and Michael Peca. They also brought in a few familiar faces, signing almost Coyote Blake Wheeler, former longtime King Jonathan Quick, and former Coyote Tyler Pitlick.
The central core of the Rangers remains the same, though. Chris Kreider already has three goals in two games and is already on his way to another monster season. Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, and Adam Fox all have three points on the season, and all seem poised to be players to watch this season.
Players to Watch
Arizona: Nick Schmaltz – Schmaltz started the season with a two-point night that saw him tie the game before winning it for the Yotes in the shootout. If Schmaltz can stay healthy he should be in for a very good season.
New York: Adam Fox – Fox had two assists in the Rangers’ last game, his first multi-point game of the season. The former Norris Trophy winner seems on his way to another monster season.
Injuries
Arizona: None
New York: Ryan Lindgren
Puck Drop
This afternoon’s game will be at 4:00 pm Arizona time and will air on Scripps, which can be found on channel 95 on Cox and channel 15.2 on antenna in Phoenix, on Cox 85/Comcast 1179 and antenna channel 9.2 in Tucson, on MSGSN in New York, and on ESPN 620 AM.