SB Nation - Kurt Sauer

Coyotes at Ducks: Game Preview #27

zyllyx — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 21:04:30 -0000

More photos » by Jason Redmond - AP

Phoenix Coyotes center Martin Hanzal of the Czech Republic (11) shoots wide as Anaheim Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller of Switzerland defends in the third period of a NHL hockey game in Anaheim, Calif., Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)

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The Phoenix Coyotes bring an end to a grueling three-week stretch of games with only seven off days on Sunday with a divisional matchup with the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Sunday's game will be the third game already between the bitter rivals in the young season, each team with a victory apiece in the previous two tilts.

What Happened Last Game?

Really? You don't remember? It was an arena full of awesome! The Coyotes chased Marty Turco out of his net in a 5-2 win over the Dallas Stars at Jobing.com Arena. Lauri Korpikoski was the first star of the night after tallying his first two goals of the season, and linemates Scottie Upshall and Matthew Lombardi each had three assists to help the team to a convincing victory.

It was only the second time that the Coyotes have scored as prolifically, and the first margin of victory of three or more goals in 14 consecutive games. The young Mutts did everything on the Five For Winning Game Preview checklist except for one - keeping the penalties balanced - which means that when the Coyotes listen to their very wise and perceptive bloggers, success follows naturally.

Which means that I'd probably better make this

FIVE FOR WINNING

extra special for the game against Anaheim.

Play With An Edge
It's no secret. These teams hate each other. Lots of teams hate the Ducks because the Ducks play a hard-nosed, gritty, in-your-face style of play, but the Coyotes and Ducks seem to reserve their worst inclinations and loudest chirping for each other. It makes for some thrilling sideshows to go along with the hockey; it also makes for more than a few cheap shots like this "Elbow Heard Round The World" from James Wisniewski on Shane Doan. The proper response to such play, of course, is illustrated by Captain Coyote himself, to wit:

Now, as satisfying as that is to watch, a lot of the shenanigans that happen between these two clubs happen out of sight of the referees even with Chris Pronger douching it up in Philadelphia (I'm looking at you, Corey Perry). So the Coyotes will have to play with their heads up and be ready to weather some tough hockey.

Feel The Bryz
Let's not beat around the bush. There is nobody more motivated on the Coyotes' squad to beat this Ducks team than Ilya Bryzgalov, he of the hot dog fetish and unnaturally high falsetto. He was aiming for a league-leading fourth shutout against Dallas before a couple of quick third-period goals dashed his hopes. But, barring any last-minute change of policy or injury, the Mutts are going to roll with their number one goalie and his fourth-best-in-the-league 2.12 GAA again on Sunday. Extra motivation is always welcome, and any time Bryzgalov faces his former squad the motivation is there in spades.

Play Competent Hockey for Sixty Minutes
This may seem strange to those readers who are new to the Coyotes, but long-time fans will know exactly what I'm saying here. I mentioned this in the last game preview (so I'm a bit redundant - give me a break, I'm just a fill-in for The Big Guy). The Coyotes are playing good hockey for the first time in what seems like forever this season, and they're doing much better at giving a consistent effort through the whole game instead of for only a period or two. Let's not beat around the bush - for most of the past decade, the Coyotes have been lottery candidates and for good reason. My wife attends games very infrequently - partially because she hated the way the Coyotes kept losing so embarrassingly. She was at the Dallas game last night and said (this is verbatim): "I didn't think these guys would ever learn how to play hockey... but I guess I was wrong." So, Coyotes, keep it up!

Play Through The Pain
There's no question - the Coyotes are starting to feel the wear-and-tear of the 82-game NHL season. Factor in the "Olympic Squeeze" during November where they've played a whopping ten games in just over two weeks, and you've got a recipe for a lot of agony. Fortunately, there are a lot of young guys on the team roster to provide raw young health. But after Ed Jovanovski, Vernon Fiddler, and Peter Mueller all left the Dallas game early with injuries, Sunday's game might end up being one of survival of the fittest. There's still no word as of this writing whether any or all of those three players will be back in the lineup against Anaheim, but it's a sure bet that they're not the only ones feeling the weight of such a demanding schedule. Grit your teeth, boys - you'll have a four-day layoff to heal when this one's done.

Build The Streak
The Coyotes once again avoided losing three in a row with their win over Dallas on Friday. Astoundingly enough, the Coyotes haven't lost three in a row all season. That's the good news. The bad news is that they haven't built a win streak all month after a strong October. Sunday's game would be a great start for a winning streak. It is, after all, the holiday season - why not give your fans a gift of a few consecutive victories?

Key Players

Corey Perry

#10 / Right Wing / Anaheim Ducks

Height: 6-3

Weight: 209

Born: May 16, 1985

Why? Corey Perry is one of those players that fans love to hate - he has a reputation for dirty play and cheap shots, and he rubs a lot of people the wrong way - but you just can't argue with his statistics. Perry already has 30 points this season (tied for 5th in the league) and is one of the hottest players around. This is a guy the Coyotes need to contain if they can - if they can't, it will be a long night for the Mutts.

Matthew Lombardi

#15 / Center / Phoenix Coyotes

Height: 6-0

Weight: 198

Born: Mar 18, 1982

Why? Lombardi is one of the Coyotes' hottest players right now. He scored three assists against Dallas and has three assists against Anaheim in the two games between the clubs so far this season. Lombardi's speed and playmaking abilities will be crucial in generating offense against a Ducks team that is gaining momentum.

The Owie List

Phoenix Coyotes Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Vernon Fiddler	undisclosed	11/28/2009
Ed Jovanovski	other-excused	11/28/2009
Peter Mueller	other-excused	11/28/2009

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Kurt Sauer	other-excused	10/07/2009

Did You Know?

The Coyotes are seventh in the Western Conference, tied with 29 points with Nashville and Dallas. The Mutts are tied for sixth in the league in wins (14) after 26 games, are fourth in goals against per game, 12th in both PP and PK, and an incredible 7th in faceoff percentage.

Final Thought

OdinMercer has been gone since Wednesday, and while I have had a terrific time being the fill-in blogger here at Five For Howling, I'll be happy to let him have the keys back to the car. Don't worry, Big Guy, it may read empty on the gas gauge but there are still a few fumes left!

Gameday Preview: Dallas Stars @ Phoenix Coyotes (8:05p EST)

Brandon Worley — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 13:38:24 -0000

Next Game

Dallas Stars (11-6-7, 7th in West)
@ Phoenix Coyotes (13-11-1, 9th in West)

Friday, Nov 27, 2009, 8:05 PM CST
Jobing.com Arena

TV: FSSW+
Radio: KTCK 1310 The Ticket

Opponent's Blog: Five For Howling

Complete Coverage >

Hopefully everyone had a safe and fun holiday yesterday, but now it's back to business. The Dallas Stars will attempt to fight off their tryptophan coma tonight as they take on the Phoenix Coyotes tonight in Glendale, Arizona.

The Stars are coming off of a four-game homestand, their first of the season, and went 2-1-1 in those games. Dallas was finally able to get into a pseudo-rhythm on home ice after an up and down start to the season. While you'd certainly hope for a better finish than the shootout loss to the Blues, at least you can be thankful the Stars did enough to pull a point out of the game. Every single game is incredibly important this early in the season, as just eight points separate 2nd in the West and 11th. The Stars gained a point on Wednesday, but have dropped two spots to 7th.

More importantly, the Stars have a chance to gain some ground in the race for the division title. While it seemed early on that San Jose will just run away with the Pacific, a win tonight will put the Stars five points back with a game in hand; it's still extremely early to be focusing on a division win but with such a surprisingly competitive division every point becomes important.

But that's big picture. Right now the Stars just need to focus on each game, one at a time. We've seen the team start to form some consistency over the past week and despite the loss two nights ago, you still had to be encouraged by the energy the Stars showed throughout (and yes, that is an important factor).

After the jump, a look at the Coyotes since we last saw them and some updates on the Dallas Stars; it's a Super Preview!!

The Dallas Stars:

After being recalled for just one game in case Karlis Skrastins couldn't play against the Blues, defenseman Maxime Fortunus was sent back to the Texas Stars. If the Stars have any more injury issues on defense, I'm hoping that Fortunus gets another chance to make his NHL debut. He is an extremely intelligent and solid defenseman and is a key part of the reason that Texas has done so well this season. He's an AHL veteran and was great in last season's playoffs and I think that if given a shot he could make a good impression in the NHL.

Fabian Brunnstrom made his debut Wednesday with Texas in his first game since his shoulder injury, going pointless and minus-1 in the 2-1 Stars shootout victory over Milwaukee (Warren Peters and Ivan Vishnevskiy scored in the shootout for the win). With him down in Austin and Brian Sutherby still on injured reserve (although he could come off today, I believe), expect to see the same lines as Wednesday night:

Neal - Richards - Eriksson
Ott - Ribeiro - Lehtinen
Morrow - Modano - Benn
Petersen - Wandell - Barch

We'll find out later today if Nicklas Grossman can play. If not, we'll get another great dose of Jeff Woywitka.

After the loss to the Blues, Marc Crawford mentioned that the lack of execution and defensive breakdowns was attributed to fatigue after playing four games in six nights. Hopefully they got some rest over the short holiday because the travel to Phoenix tonight, go back home to take on Tampa Bay tomorrow night and then travel once more to Detroit on Monday. Expect this for the rest of the season; fatigue is going to be an issue for every team and it's an excuse I'm tired of hearing.

No word as of yet as to who the starter will be tonight, although I would go with a rested Alex Auld against the Coyotes and play Turco tomorrow night against Tampa Bay. Marc Crawford is wily, however, and there's telling what their 'plan' may be for this weekend. His last hunch worked out however when he started Auld against the Red Wings, so I'll defer to him.

Here are some news and notes on the Stars from the last few days:

Andrew's Dallas Stars Page has a look at some special teams stats:

Statistically speaking, you can look at the Dallas Stars' special teams in more than one way. In the standard statistical view the power play is middle of the pack and the penalty kill is the in the bottom of third of the league. In another way of looking at the numbers, the power play is top ten and the penalty kill is middle of the pack.

Take the power play, for example. Through Wednesday's games it ranked 17th in the league at 17.4 percent in the usual way of looking at power play performance stats. Look at it a different way - power play goals per game - and it ranked seventh in the league at 0.92 per game.

The penalty kill ranked 23rd in the league at 77.9 percent through Wednesday, but if you look at power play goals allowed per game it was at 16th in the league at 0.79 per game.

The Dallas Morning News has a good story on Brad Richards, who is 4th in the NHL in overall scoring.

There are several reasons for the surge. Richards has found chemistry with young wingers James Neal and Loui Eriksson; he has taken over as the quarterback of the power play (a role Sergei Zubov held for better than a decade); and he simply is better than he has been in recent seasons.

Richards said he was disappointed with last season's injury-plagued campaign, and the Stars' inability to make the playoffs. He went to his summer home in Tampa, Fla. and worked out relentlessly, concentrating on leg work and skating, but also on finding the hunger in his game again.

"It obviously helped physically, but I think it helped mentally, too," he said.

Andrew's also has the audio from Brendan Morrow's appearance on BaD radio from Wednesday. What I found interesting was what he had to say about his fight with Tim Gleason.

The Phoenix Coyotes:

Since beating the Stars at home on November 14, the Coyotes have gone 2-3-1 and slid further down in the standings, including two straight losses on the road against Calgary and Edmonton. Five For Howling has an excellent preview up for the game, so I'm going to defer to them for the Coyotes point of view:

Attack the Goalie
Whether we get a big helping of Thanksgiving Turco or more of the same Auld Lang Syne, we need to make sure that the Stars' netminder earns his pay. Marty Turco in particular has proven to be less than bulletproof at Jobing.com Arena - he likes to play Superman, but the Coyotes in general and Shane Doan in particular seem to know where to find Kryptonite. The key against Turco is to have enough patience with the puck until he overcommits. Against Auld, who plays a less "flamboyant" style, the Coyotes simply have to dodge the "show up your old team" ethic that nipped them against Calgary. Tall Bald Auld is less aggressive in the crease than Turco, but he's also more porous - and as long as the refs and video review guys are paying attention the Coyotes can slip a few past him.

Clog the Slot and Crease
By now, we've all realized that there aren't any spectacularly-gifted offensive talents on the Coyotes' squad. And if we hadn't on Wednesday, TSN did a great job of reminding us about it. Over. And over. And over again. So since we apparently lack the creativity and precision it takes to snipe goals in from afar on a consistent basis, it would behoove the Desert Dogs to increase the close-in pressure between the circles and in front of the net. The Coyotes signed Taylor Pyatt for his big body and ability to create chances at the crease - his slow skating speed has looked out of place among the other faster forwards in the lineup when the team has dumped-and-chased. Parking guys like Pyatt, Paul Bissonnette, and Martin Hanzal in front of the goalie might smack of hunting for garbage goals... but let's be honest, right now any goal is a good goal for the offensively-challenged Coyotes.

There is much, much more so be sure to check it out.

Key Injuries:

Dallas: D Nicklas Grossman (groin) is questionable. C Brian Sutherby (groin) and RW Fabian Brunnstrom (shoulder) are out.

Phoenix: D Kurt Sauer (upper body) is out.

Four Questions For Five For Howling

Geoff Detweiler — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:17:29 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

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Yeah, that's a tongue-twister. Anyway, in an attempt to bring back our tradition of inter-conversing, our Travis asked their Travis some questions in preparation for tonight's game. Thanks to Travis for happily obliging.

Head on over to Five For Howling for a full look at the Coyotes.

Check after the jump for his thoughts on Scottie Upshall, the bankruptcy fiasco, maintaining a hot start, and his hopes for some playoff hockey in Phoenix.

BSH: 1) The Coyotes got off to a great start, but they've fallen back a little bit since thanks to key injuries. With defensemen Ed Jovanovski, Kurt Sauer, and Zbynek Michalek all sidelined, what's keeping the wheels from falling off the bus?

FFH: I think that the System Dave Tippett has put in place is what's really keeping everything going. On any given night it can be anyone on the ice getting the game winner or making the big play. This team is big on defense, so if the goalie is on at all and they can score a couple they can win. Hopefully they can keep it up long enough for our defensive players to get back.

2) How has Scottie Upshall been for you? Give it to us straight. Are Coyotes fans happy with the trade?

I know I'm happy with it even if all Coyote fans aren't. Upshall is currently tied for the team lead in Goals at 7 with Radim Vrbata. Fans still like Danny a lot and I hear the "We should trade back for him" All the time. Most fans get that we got the better player in general (Along with a pick) but didn't like that he was traded away and still don't.

3) It's obvious that there's a lot of extracurricular activity in the Phoenix organization. They probably wouldn't say it in public, but do you truly think any of it affects the play on the ice? Would you say it gets into their heads?

I think last year it was certainly the case. We were playing well and then everything fell completely apart. I think this year they dealt with it for long enough that it wasn't as big of a deal by the time the season came around especially with Ulf Samuellson and then Dave TIppett in harge during Camp and the beginning of the season. Neither of those guys let there be too much time at work to think about that stuff.

4) Is this the year Phoenix returns to the playoffs? Last years team was a little bit of a tease, but before the injuries, the 09/10 version of the Coyotes showed some promise. They're currently holding steady in a very tough Pacific division and are right on the cusp of a playoff spot. Are you optimistic that a healthy team can make the playoffs?

As with a lot of bubble teams, it'll all come down to how we deal with injuries. If Zbynek Michalek and Ed Jovanovski can come back soon and we can limit the injuries for the rest of the season we could certainly be there. San Jose is running off with the Pacific Division lead, but The Pacific is good enough this year that 4 teams could probably make it out into the Playoffs. With how our goaltending and defense has played even without our star players we could give any team in the playoffs fits too.

Coyotes Vs. Flyers - Game Preview # 23

OdinMercer — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:17:55 -0000

More photos » by Jeff Roberson - AP

27 days ago: Phoenix Coyotes goalie Ilya Bryzgalov, left, of Russia, reacts after St. Louis Blues' T.J. Oshie, right, scored during the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009, in St. Louis. The Blues won 3-2 in overtime. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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After a tough overtime loss in St. Louis against the Blues, the Phoenix Coyotes return home briefly to take on the Philadelphia Flyers tonight. Supposedly this is some sort of big deal as it seems Coyote fans seem to have adopted the Flyers as their B team for some reason. I don't really get it., but hey whatever you like I guess. I still look forward to the "Boos" raining down upon Chris Pronger. There's some other stuff about trading guys and playing against old teams that I don't really care that much about too...

Five for WInning

Don't Let the OTL Get You Down: For the most part the Coyotes did a great job of posessing the puck and doing things right all game long. Chris Mason was on fire making a ton of quality saves. Ilya Bryzgalov got screened on the shot in OT and there wes some blown coverage, but overall we played well and got the point. It's the first OTL for the COyotes all year so we'll see how they react to it.

Doan Needs to Wake up (Still): He hasn't been playing badly, but he just hasn't been able to find the back of the net. While we can't rely on his production, having a goal producing Shane Doan not only gets us his goals, but has the ability to up the confidence of the team in general.

Obligatory Injury Report: Zbynek Michalek Still out, Ed Jovanovski looks to still be out, Kurt Sauer still out, but Matthew Lombardi should be back tonight. Sheesh I hope we get our Defense back soon...

PK Better Be Ready: As a matter of fact, how about we just don't take penalties tonight? The Flyers sport the best Power Play in the league at a 26.6% conversion rate. Or PK hasn't been bad at 81.2%, but it's been slipping a little as of late as we had been much better. THe PK unit though looked good the last couple of games making the other team's power play units look like they were at even strength.

And Those Guys That Got Traded...: Yeah, everyone still remembers that Scottie Upshall got traded to the Coyotes for Daniel Carcillo and a Second Round pick. Half of the things I've seen around the net are about "Danny Coming Back!" and what not. I can honestly say I don't really care. I'm not angry, It's just not important to me. Sure, he was a fan favorite when he was here, but we traded him for a player that has done really well for us this year (Tied for the team lead in goals) and for more picks. I liked the trade when it happened and still do. I get the player loyalty, but I guess I just moved on. Probably see many a Carcillo Jersey around the Arena tonight too, hopefully in the old Coyote colors and not the black and orange.

GO YOTES!

How Much Is That Duck In The Window?

Arthur from Anaheim Calling — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:28:27 -0000

More photos » by Paul Sancya - AP

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ARTHUR:

Anaheim calling to the hockey world...

With 15 scouts credentialed for last night's game, any joy derived from Anaheim's 2-point performance is tempered with the certainty that a trade is coming, and, as far as the pro scouting world is concerned, so is a fire sale.

Daniel, based on last night's performers, what move do you think has the best chance of shaking up this roster and getting the Ducks the 37 wins they'll need to contend for the playoffs-- should the team move one of last night's superstars (be they point-streaking dynamos or Finnish power play machines), one of last night's role players or the man between the pipes? And for what? Give me your single key trade (and only that trade).

DANIEL:

I'd like to take this opportunity to hate on James Wisniewski. Wiz has the most movable contract, with the highest upside. After all, how many top 4 defenseman have expiring contracts that can be shipped to contenders with cap problems? I'm looking at you Chicago, Washington, and New York, the Rangers not the Islanders. Wisniewski would have provided a high draft pick and NHL player. Instead he proves to half the teams in the league that he's made of glass. So, why don't you go make another mistake on the kill WIz so you can force the knife a little deeper into my back?

Now that that's out of the way, I have to say our best trade bait is still Joffrey Lupul. I hate to do it to the guy since he's so happy to be back, but he's on pace for around 25 goals despite a relatively slow start. His contract is a little scary, but on the right line he can still be a force, as he demonstrated when he was getting time on the top line. I think some of the surprise teams this year, Phoenix, or the Islanders might see Lupul's extra 20 goals as a way to keep themselves in the hunt all year long.

When we trade Lupul for a second time as punishment for not being able to mesh with Selanne, my ideal return would be a solid stay-at-home defenseman, and a high draft pick, like a second or third rounder. If the team doesn't want to part with the pick, then I think we need a prospect with top 6 potential. In my real world he goes to Phoenix for Kurt Sauer and a 3rd round pick In my happy fantasy world we trade Joffrey Lupul to the St. Louis Blues for Paul Kariya and a 2nd round pick. I know this doesn't involve that defenseman I want, but I'd love to see Kariya back in Anaheim, on a line with Koivu and Selanne. Make my dream come true Murray and I might forgive you for giving Beauchemin's money to Wisniewski.

ARTHUR:

I'd accuse you of freely ignoring the "ONLY THAT TRADE" caveat, but as a trade for Paul Kariya would do very little to get us 37 wins, I'll let it slide as the same trade i would make as an EA NHL 10 general manager if my season was going down the toilet.

And I share your Wisniewski hatred because I, too, would have pegged him as bait when his fragility was still a west coast secret, when we could point to his repeated knee injuries as bad luck. But it's now obvious to 15 NHL scouts that from shoulder to knee to foot, this guy does not have the body to play a full career as a professional athlete. And as we received anonymous Blogger hatred the last time I said that, I should reiterate that there's nothing wrong with that. From Mario Lemieux's back to whatever is going on with Marian Gaborik's hips and groin, some players just aren't built to go the long haul, regardless of how much talent they have. And that's why the truly responsible and durable athletes in contact sports deserve every penny they get; it's astounding what they do.

My trade is exactly what was on the table in a Marchant for Higgins deal. I think we send a role player out for a scorer, perhaps buying low on a struggling player but nothing as feeble-minded as the McDonald for Weight deal, I mean a real scorer. At minimum, we move Marchant for a larger, and thus (sadly) Pahlsson-like, checking line center.

And that seems feasible after the bottom six performance last night. It would hurt to move a fan favorite like Parros or a quality player like Marchant, but if we can get by with players like Sharp, Beleskey and Calder, then we should consider adding someone with more utility than Parros or more size and scoring skill than Marchant. I'll miss either player, and the facial hair that goes along with them, but the Ducks are not in a place to turn down an upgrade for sentimental value.

Coyotes at Wild - Game Preview #21

OdinMercer — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:31:42 -0000

More photos » by Matt York - AP

about 1 month ago: Phoenix Coyotes right wing Shane Doan (19) looks to pass as Tampa Bay Lightning center Vincent Lecavalier (4) defends during the third period of an NHL hockey game Monday, Nov. 16, 2009 in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)

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After a listless performance against the Lightning, the Coyotes take a short 2 game roadtrip starting tonight against the Minnesota Wild. The Wild are not what one would call a "good" team at the moment. They've gone 7-11-2 so far for 16 points. That puts them just above the Ducks in the Western Conference standings. They have, however been pretty good at home going 5-2 at XCEL. Mikko Koivu leads the Wild in points at 5-13-18 and Andrew Brunette leads in goals with 7.The Coyotes need to take this team seriously though as they have not been playing well as of late. Against the Lightning there was zero energy and though the Wild haven't been all that great this year, if we look past them we'll have another L against us.

Five for Winning:

No More LaBarbera!: Some of those goals that went in on Monday were really soft. while I know Bryz lets those in now and then, I expect Ilya Bryzgalov to get both tonight's game, and unless he gets shelled, the game against St Louis as well. The season started out with myself and others liking Jason LaBarbera, but his recent performance has many calling for Al Montoya to get another shot in the big league.

Make the Wild Stay Minus: A lot of people don't like the +/- statistic, but it can help show patterns in teams and players. For example, Of the 25 skaters that have played games for the Wild this season only 5 are not in the -. 2 of the five left are at an even 0. That goes to show that at least at even strength, they haven't been all that strong.

Power Play woes: Just a few games ago, the Coyotes were one of the better teams in the league when it came to PP%. Now we've slid from a high of 6th in the league to a middling 14th. Minnesota isn't the team we want to face to bust out of that slump as even with a so-so record they still have an 82% PK percentage.

Weathering the Injury Storm: Now we've added Matthew Lombardi to the ever growing list of the Coyotes injured reserve joining Zbynek Michalek, Kurt Sauer and the Day-to-Day Ed Jovanovski. Hopefully we're just getting the injuries out of the way early and everyone will be completely healthy for the rest of the year once they come back because this is starting to get brutal. At least we're not lacking Forward prospects to call up unlike on the blueline.

Look out for the Second Period: Minnesota likes to score and get scored against this year in the second period. 52% of the goals against and 46% of their goals for come in the second period. Those are some pretty lopsided stats in terms of goal distribution. This bodes well for the Coyotes at least as they're usually waking up after a slow first period.

GO YOTES!

Coyotes vs. Habs - Game #18 Preview - Les Coyotes gagneront!

OdinMercer — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:04:09 -0000

More photos » by Jason Redmond - AP

Phoenix Coyotes center Martin Hanzal missed it by that much! Giving the Ducks a narrow 4-3 win on Saturday, November 7, 2009

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Can you believe it's already the 18th game of the season? I can't. I also can't believe that the Phoenix Coyotes have gotten off to a 10-7 record like we have. That's more than I could have expected coming into the season, though I hoped we'd do well, I certainly didn't expect it. The downside is that we've found ourselves in a funk and battling injuries all at the same time. Having 3 of your top 6 Defenders out of the lineup is no bueno. Hopefully we can build off of the win against the Blackhawks last week and how we came that close to completeing the comeback against the Ducks on Saturday.

Tonight we host the Montreal Canadiens who have not gotten off to the best start at 8-10-0. The Habs, like the Coyotes have lost 3 of their last 4 games so both will be looking to get out of a funk. No word on who will be in net for the Canadiens yet as both Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak have been getting time between the pipes.

Five for Winning:

Find a way to survive on D: We're out Zbynek Michalek, Kurt Sauer and now Ed Jovanovski is day-to-day. That's not good. In their places we have young guys Sami Lepisto, David Schlemko and Shaun Heshka filling in for them. That's a lot of minutes for some pretty young guys to eat up against a talented, but small, Habs lineup. They need to get used to playing big minutes and show that they can do so responsibly for the sake of our goaltender.

Repeat the Good, Learn From the Bad: THe Ducks game was not very pretty in a lot of ways. We gave up 4 unanswered goals and just looked flat for 2+ periods. We did however flip the switch towrad the end scoreing 3 quick goals to make things interesting. If Martin Hanzal buries that puck past Hiller into a wide open net, things would have been much different. Let's remember what got us those 3 goals, and correct the mistakes that lead to the ones against. (Lazy play)

Time to Be An Offensive Power: Well, our D will hopefully hold up, but without Z and Jovo it's just not as good as it was. Our goalscorers need to dig deap and gen a couple extra to take the pressure off the backend. While There may not be a lot of gold to mine there, there certainly has to be more than we've gotten so far.

End The Slump Now: We've been good about keeping losing streaks short. We need to make sure the winning ones are longer for the most part. So far we haven't had a longer losing streak than 2 games, but we don't need to hance anything. Let's get back on the + side again or we'll find ourselves slipping in the standings of a very competitive Pacific Division.

Four Days Off: We've had a lot of time to practice and get the new guys playing the system that we're used to. They better come out ready to play and not take that 1st period warm up time. Bryz needs to have his head on right and not let the early softie in either. We'll have to be on top of our game until we get our top guys back.

GO YOTES!

Coyotes at Ducks - Game #17 Preview - It's Gonna Get Bumpy

OdinMercer — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:26 -0000

More photos » by Ross D. Franklin - AP

about 1 month ago: Phoenix Coyotes' Paul Bissonnette (12) fights with George Parros (16) in the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

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The Phoenix Coyotes and Anaheim Ducks last met a week ago in a game in Phoenix. It was your average Ducks and Coyotes game until James Wisniewski decided to hit Shane Doan in the face with a forearm and elbow. Doan was woozy after the hit and the Coyotes were just plain pissed. Things were more than a little chippy from that point on. The hits were quite a bit harder and Doan even dropped the gloves with Wizneiwski and got even. Though I'm not so sure that's over with so it should be another hard hitting game tonight (That most here won't see on tv)

Five for Winning

It's Bryz Again: Ilya Bryzgalov is still getting the majority of the starts for the team. Jason LaBarbera was brought in to relieve him and push him, but hasn't really done that. Bryz will get a few days off as the next game isn't until Thursday, but It would also suck to have him get burned out down the stretch. He did great against the Hawks, so hopefully he can keep it up tonight.

Don't let the Hitting Get in the Way: While having a certain amount of physicality going on can make for an intense game, we can't let it be the sole focus and get us off our game. That's exactly what happened for a couple periods last week against them before we bounced back, but I imagine that the Coyotes will come in with a game plan that combines both hitting and skill.

Weather the injuries: Zbynek Michalek is still out with a leg injury of some sort as it's been reported that he has a walking cast on, Kurt Sauer is still out as well. Now Ed Jovanovski is Day-to-Day too. He made the trip with the team to California though, so he may be good to go. If not Shaun Heshka, who was just called up will start in his place. David Schlemko was solid on Thursday and will get Michalek's spot again tonight.

Keep the Special teams Up: 10th in PP% and 13th in PK% is the best our team has had in a Looooooong time. We're far enough into the season to see that it's not just a fluke anymore. In past seasons, the special teams were atrocious on both ends. Our new defensive system has the PK working well and though we don't get much offense in general we find ways to make it happen on the PP.

Getting the Role Players Involved: Daniel Winnik has looked great in this new system. He gets to hot, but in the odd point and leads the team in +/- at a +5. Peter Mueller got his first goal of the year in the last game as well. We need both of these guys to be playing at the top of their games to keep this team in contention.

I'll be watching tonight (I hope).

GO YOTES!

Coyotes vs. Blackhawks - Game #16 Preview

OdinMercer — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:28:04 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

about 1 month ago: Colorado Avalanche goalie Peter Budaj (31), of Slovakia, deflects a shot redirected by Phoenix Coyotes center Matthew Lombardi (15) in the second period of an NHL hockey game in Denver on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

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The Phoenix Coyotes look to get off a 2 game skid tonight at Jobbing.com Arena against the Central Division leading Chicago Blackhawks. The road to this point hasn't been very easy as the Coyotes have played a lot of very talanted teams to get to 9-6. It doesn't get a whole lot easier tonight though as the Blackhawks have managed to get 17 points in only 13 game, giving them a 8-4-1 record. On the plus side they are only 2-2 away this year and other than traveling overseas to start the season, they really haven't had any extended roadtrips. Hopefully it's just a case of a hot home team, but we shall see tonight.

Five for Winning:

Come out to Play: Over the last few games, including a couple of the wins, the Coyotes simply haven't gotten off to good starts in the game. They had to come back against the Ducks on Halloween, Took a lead against Los Angeles on some flukey goals in a game that was flat for both sides, and then goes down a goal against Colorado just a minute in. THis hasn't been the intense team it was to start the season. Looks like maybe just some growing pains, but it had better be temporary.

Slog through the injuries: Zbynek Michalek and Scottie Upshall are both out with injuries as well and Kurt Sauer who has been out since the first game with some neck and head issues. David Schlemko and Mikkel Boedker will take their places in the lineup and need to play at a top level to make things work. On the plus side Jonathan Towes and Ben Eager are out for the hawks, so that'll help our side.

End the streak here: Lost two in a row, we haven't lost 3 in a row this season and it damn well better not start tonight. Having our winning streaks longer than our losing ones is what will carry this team to the playoffs in the end. We can't win everynight, but we better keep our heads well above water.

Be adaptable: Teams have started to figure us out, so change it up when necessary. We can't keep going back to the same things that didn't work 3 minutes ago and try it again and again. Change up your passing and entrances to minimize turnovers.

Be hungry: You guys just gave up at the end last night. UNACCEPTABLE. This team can't quit. Fight the battles everywhere and don't let one loss get you down.

GO YOTES!

Game 16 Preview: Coyotes at Avalanche

David Driscoll-Carignan — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:00:22 -0000


Phoenix Coyotes	7:00 MT / 9:00 ET	Colorado Avalanche
9-5-0	November 4th, 2009	10-3-2
18 pts	Pepsi Center	22 pts
5th in West	Denver, CO	1st in West

By now, I think you know that I like to draw paralells. Sometimes its a stretch for me. Not this time.

The Coyotes and Avalanche both endured a very tumultuous offseason and neither were expected to do much this year. Both teams have used exceptional goaltending (Craig Anderson edged out Ilya Bryzgalov for player of the month honors in October) and timely scoring (18 players have scored for the Avs, 15 for the Coyotes) to surprise the hell out everyone. I personally don't think either team is going to be at the top of the standings in a few weeks, but they both deserve a lot of credit for their unexpected fine play to date.

As you may have noticed, the Avalanche have had some trouble scoring recently, and it won't get any easier tonight. Bryzgalov already has 3 shutouts and even if he gets hit by a bus on the way to the rink, backup Jason Labarbarino has been excellent as well. And they play behind a stingy defense that is 4th best in shots allowed. That doesn't bode well for an Avalanche team that's struggled to get to the 20 shot mark recently.

The Coyotes have a lot of new faces on the team as a quick glance at their recent line combos reveals. Paul Bissonette? Lauri Korpuskristi? Not ringing any bells, I'm afraid. I have heard of that Radim Vrbata fellow though. Sadly, another former Av - Kurt Sauer - is on the IR; I don't know what's wrong, but I'm going to assume he dislocated his jaw talking with that fantastic Minnesota accent he has. Don't laugh. It could happen to you too...

Coyotes vs Avalanche coverage

Five For Howling

Phoenix			Colorado
18	7th	Points	1st	22
2.57	22nd	GF/G	13th	2.93
2.14	2nd	GA/G	1st	2.13
29.5	17th	S/G	29th	25.1
27.5	4th	SA/G	26th	33.1
23.3	9th	PP%	13th	21.4
79.3	17th	PK%	2nd	87.7
50.8	14th	FO%	30th	45.3
13.9	16th	PIM/G	12th	12.2
12 pts	Doan	Top Scorer	Wolski	13 pts