Game Preview
Don’t look now, but the Arizona Coyotes are on a roll. The Desert Dogs have won their last four games, with the most recent win being a 5-2 trouncing of the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.
The Coyotes didn’t trail once against the Sharks in a solid performance. The game saw the return of Sean Durzi, who finished with two assists, and solid play from the Coyotes’ top line of Clayton Keller, Alex Kerfoot, and Nick Schmaltz, who all registered goals.
Seeing the Coyotes’ top line perform against the Sharks was great. Maybe it is because of injuries, but the top unit hasn’t been the most consistent this season, making secondary scoring more critical. But if the Coyotes can get all of their offense going, they should become a dominant force.
The Avalanche have also won their last game, beating the Ottawa Senators 6-4 on Thursday. It was their fifth win of the month. A widely inconsistent December is why the Avalanche are third in the Central.
Unsurprisingly, the Avalanche are scoring a lot of goals. Their 120 goals in 33 games is second in the league, behind the Canuck’s 128. They also have a top-10 power play, converting 24.0% of the time.
That is all well and good, but Colorado is also giving up a lot of goals. They are 16th in goals against, which is not terrible, but it is an evident weakness. Surprisingly enough, the Avalanche have a very good penalty kill, so many of the goals they give up are scored 5-on-5.
Goaltender Alexandar Georgiev played well last season with the Avalanche but is struggling this season. He has a 3.01 goals-against average and a .898 save percentage through 26 games this season. Former Coyote Ivan Prosvetov is serving as backup, and in 10 games played, he has a 2.84 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage.
The Coyotes have won their last four, but they were playing against three relatively bad teams. None of them had players like Nathan MacKinnon, who already has 53 points in 33 games, or Mikko Rantanen, who has 42 points in 33 games.
If the Coyotes want to keep their winning streak going, they must be ready for a battle. They need to play a full 60-minute game, do their best to stay out of the box, and do what they can to protect their goaltender. It will be challenging, but it is not impossible.
Player to Watch
Arizona: Clayton Keller – Keller has goals in his last three games and had a three-point night against the Sharks. The Coyotes need their top players to be their best tonight, which means Keller will need to play at the top of his game.
Colorado: Nathan MacKinnon – MacKinnon had a four-goal, five-point game against the Senators and has a point in every game since November 18th. He is having a dominant season and could do serious damage if the Coyotes aren’t careful.
Injuries
Arizona: Travis Boyd (pectoral muscle), Barrett Hayton (upper body), Vladislav Kolyachonok (lower body)
Colorado: Andrew Cogliano (undisclosed), Jean-Luc Foudy (lower body), Pavel Francouz (groin), Gabriel Landeskog (knee), Artturi Lehkonen (neck), Chris Wagner (Achilles)
Puck Drop
Tonight’s game will be in Colorado with a 7:00 p.m. start. It will air on Scripps.