Game Preview
After winning their last three at home, the Arizona Coyotes are back on the road for a two-game road trip for two games before Christmas. After beating the worst team in the Atlantic Division, the Coyotes will face the worst team in the Pacific Division tonight in San Jose.
The Arizona Coyotes are on a win streak, but that doesn’t mean they have been playing perfectly. In fact, it is a good thing they have been playing some bad teams because of some critical issues in their games.
First, the Coyotes are not generating enough offense. Opponents have held the Coyotes to two goals or fewer in five of their last seven games, which is far from ideal. Two of their wins were extremely tight and relied on goaltenders Karel Vejmelka and Connor Ingram standing on their heads.
Additionally, while the Coyotes’ last game against the Senators may have been a wild ride to watch, going down 3-0 in the opening period is far from ideal. Luckily, it was one of the rare nights where the Coyotes were able to score enough to overcome the early deficit.
While giving up three goals in the opening period isn’t great, it shouldn’t be considered a mark against Ingram. Two of the three goals were redirected in, and the other was scored on the power play. The Coyotes need both Ingram and Vejmelka to play at the top of their game, and Tuesday’s game shouldn’t be seen as a sign that they aren’t, at least not yet.
Tonight’s opponent is a familiar one. Not only were the Coyotes and San Jose Sharks in the same division for many years, but both teams met last week at Mullett Arena.
Things have not gone well for the Sharks since they lost 1-0 to the Desert Dogs. They fell 6-2 to the Colorado Avalanche two days later and followed that up with a 4-1 loss to the Kings on Tuesday.
If it’s not clear from those three results, the Sharks have an offense problem. They score the fewest goals in the league, both in terms of raw numbers and games played. They have also allowed the most goals, which is what you would expect for a team tied for the fewest points in the league.
But that doesn’t mean the Coyotes should take any chances. The Sharks have five games this month where they scored at least four goals, and they were against varied competition. They beat the Islanders 5-4 and the Red Wings 6-5, both in overtime, and beat the Devils 6-3. They also took the Vegas Golden Knights to the shootout before falling 5-4, and lost 6-5 to the Rangers in regulation. That isn’t a ringing endorsement for a Sharks comeback, but it does show they can at least string together a few periods of solid play.
Players to Watch
Arizona: Clayton Keller – Keller has goals in back-to-back games with 11 goals on the season, and it would be great if the Desert Dogs could get him to generate consistent offense. He was held off the scoresheet the last time he played the Sharks.
San Jose: Tomáš Hertl – Hertl scored the Sharks’ two goals against the Colorado Avalanche and comes into tonight’s game with 11 goals in 31 games. He, like the rest of the Sharks, was kept off the board the last time they played the Coyotes.
Injuries
Arizona: Travis Boyd (pectoral muscle), Sean Durzi (lower body), Barrett Hayton (upper body), Vladislav Kolyachonok (lower body)
San Jose: Calen Addison (lower body), Matt Benning (lower body), Ryan Carpenter (undisclosed), Logan Couture (lower body), Ty Emberson (lower body), Mitchell Russell (undisclosed), Jan Rutta (illness), Nico Sturm (abdominal)
Puck Drop
Tonight’s game will be at 8:30 p.m. Arizona time and will air on ESPN+ and Hulu.