Game Preview
The Arizona Coyotes return to Mullett Arena tonight to start an extensive homestand. The Coyotes will not play a road game until Sunday, April 7th, with the next seven games happening in Arizona.
Unfortunately, the Coyotes will not be entering their homestand with momentum. They dropped their most recent game, falling 5-2 to division rivals the Dallas Stars.
Things started off well for the Yotes. The two teams looked evenly matched for much of the first period, and the game was scoreless until Clayton Keller lit the lamp with just 15 seconds left.
But down 1-0 after 20, you had to expect the Dallas Stars to bounce back in the second, and they did. Dallas scored three unanswered goals in less than five minutes in the second and two more to start the third. It was a brutal swing that the Coyotes should have expected but could not counter.
The Coyotes and Kraken last played each other in early November in a game that saw the Coyotes win 4-3 in the shootout. Now, both teams are out of the playoffs. The Coyotes have 61 points in 69 games, while the Kraken are slightly better with 68 in 68. But the Kraken are also in the midst of a six-game losing streak, so who knows who will finish on top?
Seattle hasn’t won a game since March 5th, a 4-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets. They followed that up with a loss to the Jets and just kept losing to the Golden Knights (twice, once in overtime, the other in regulation), the Capitals, the Predators, and the Sabres. Their second loss to the Golden Knights happened last night when they fell 3-1 in Vegas.
The Kraken had a relatively quiet trade deadline with only a small move with center Alex Wennberg was dealt to the Rangers for a second and a conditional fourth.
Tonight will be another battle ofthe bad teams, and it is tough to say who has the advantage. The Coyotes score more goals, but they also allow more. The Kraken has the better penalty kill, but the Coyotes have the better power play. Neither team excels at what they do, so this seems like a battle between the moveable object and the stoppable force.
Players to Watch
Arizona: Clayton Keller – Keller scored the Coyotes’ first goal and comes into tonight’s game riding a three-game goal streak. He had a goal and an assist the last time he played the Kraken.
Seattle: Oliver Bjorkstrand – Bjorkstrand had an assist against the Golden Knights and has four points in his last five games. He is second on the Kraken, scoring 49 points in 68 games.
Injuries
Arizona: Travis Boyd (pectoral), Barrett Hayton (lower body)
Seattle: Vince Dunn (upper body)
Puck Drop
Tonight’s game will be at 7:00 p.m. Arizona time and will air on Scripps.