Game Preview
Don’t look now, but the Arizona Coyotes are streaking. After dropping four straight games, the Desert Dogs responded with back-to-back wins, shutting out the San Jose Sharks and Buffalo Sabres.
The Coyotes didn’t necessarily play their best in either game. But a little bit of luck and some excellent goaltending from both Karel Vejmelka and Connor Ingram.
Neither win by the Coyotes was overly dominant. They scored three goals over the course of two games, lower than their average of 3.03 goals per game this season. That said, a win is a win, and not every win is going to be a commanding one. And sometimes, a sneaky win gives you momentum to execute a dominant performance.
Unfortunately for the Coyotes, they face an uphill battle no matter how they are doing tonight. The Ottawa Senators may be the worst team in the Eastern Conference, but they have a secret weapon: they just fired their head coach.
After an awful start to the season, the Senators decided to go full Scrooge, fired D.J. Smith the week before Christmas, and named Jacques Martin as interim head coach. This came after Sunday’s 6-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Senators aren’t a terrible team. They generate a decent amount of offense and are 10th in goals scored per games played. Unfortunately, they also give up a lot of goals and are 26th in goals allowed per games played.
Given their decent offense, it is surprising that the Senators’ power play is bad, 21st in the NHL. Unsurprisingly, their penalty kill is awful at 31st in the NHL, killing only 72.4% of penalties.
Typically, a slumping team riding a four-game point streak would be a good opponent for the Coyotes, but the Senators firing Smith changes everything. Everyone on the Senators roster will be giving it their A-game tonight, hoping to impress the new bench boss, so the Coyotes need to be ready.
For the Coyotes, they just need to come ready to play. The Senators will be going all out, and the Desert Dogs must be prepared to match and surpass them.
Players to Watch
Arizona: Alex Kerfoot – After five games without a point, Kerfoot assisted on Clayton Keller’s game-winning goal in the Coyotes’ game against the Sabres. He has been a big part of the Coyotes’ success this season, and with all the injuries they are dealing with, the team needs him to step up.
Ottawa: Brady Tkachuk – The Scottsdale-born Tkachuk is having a great year, with 14 goals and seven assists in 26 games. He comes into tonight’s game riding a two-game point streak with a goal in his last game against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Injuries
Arizona: Travis Boyd (pectoral muscle), Sean Durzi (lower body), Barrett Hayton (upper body), Vladislav Kolyachonok (lower body)
Ottawa: Thomas Chabot (leg), Rourke Chartier (upper body), Mathieu Joseph (lower body)
Puck Drop
Tonight’s game will be at Mullett Arena and will start at 7:00 p.m. The game will air on Scripps.