SB Nation - Phoenix Coyotes

Coyotes at Kings - Game #31 Preview - Remember When We Owned the Kings?

OdinMercer — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:45:09 -0000

More photos » by Ross D. Franklin - AP

2 days ago: Phoenix Coyotes' Scottie Upshall (8) scores against Minnesota Wild's Niklas Backstrom (32), of Finland, in the second period during an NHL hockey game Monday, Dec. 7, 2009, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

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Oh how I pine for the days of yesteryear. When the Kings couldn't buy a goal. When the purple defense was laughably porous. When no matter who they put in goal it wasn't enough to keep us from beating them. Those days have passed it seems, but not all is lost. While the Kings may be making a charge towards the top of the division, the Coyotes too have come out of the basement and are clawing their way up the standings. If no longer destroying the Kings every single time we face them is the price to be paid for overall success then I'll take it! Though I'm not quite ready to concede this game just yet...

FIVE FOR WINNING

PK vs. PP
The Coyotes have managed to deny their opponents on the last 18 power play chances. An 0 for 18 chances looks pretty great for one of the work penalty killing teams of last year. However. Against the Kings in three games this year the Coyotes have allowed them to score on 6 of the 12 chances they've had. Something is going to give tonight. Either the Coyotes will have tightened up and figured out the PK better or the Kings are going to go to town yet again as they are lights out against pretty much everyone on the power play, especially at home where they're 5th in home rink PP% at 24.5%

Can Taylor Pyatt's Scoring Streak Continue?
After a less than spectacular start Taylor Pyatt has been on fire the past three games getting a goal in each one. He's come up with a patented "Hold off the defender with one arm and tip the puck 5 hole move" Where he pretty much does exactly that. Though last game he got an incredible one timer from a Shane Doan pass that he beautifully weaved through two Wild defenders

Bryzgalov for Vezina?
Okay, maybe it's a little early for that, (Though not by much) but I don't think Coyote fans could have expected or wanted much more out of Ilya Bryzgalov so far this season. He leads the league in shutouts with 4. He's among the best in both save percentage and Goals Against Average. The defense has been there, but he's gone from a goalie that was suspect in the eyes on many fans, to the guy that's carried this team into contention. He'll need to be good again tonight as the Kings have been one of the few teams that have been able to score on the Russian. They've managed to score 7 goals in Bryz's 2 starts.

Get the Jump On Them Early
Sure it's always nice to get the early lead, but it will be critical to do so tonight. The Kings are coming over a hard fought 5-4 overtime victory against the Sharks last night and will (hopefully) be at least a little tired. The bigger reason though is that the Kings have shutdown teams late in games from making comebacks in the 3rd. If the Kings take a lead into the final frame they've won in all 13 instances.

Defrost the Power Play
While our Penalty Kill has been solid. Our Power Play has been ice cold. THough we've managed to put together our 5 game winning streak. We've done so without a single power play goal in the last 18 chances. Every goal we've scored in the past 5 has been at even strength. THat says a lot for how our team is working the 5 on 5, but we have to start converting some of those shorthanded chances if we want to climb up the standings any more than we already have.

Key Players

Shane Doan

#19 / Right Wing / Phoenix Coyotes

Height: 6-1

Weight: 224

Born: Oct 10, 1976

Shane Doan has been racking up the assists lately but the team could use some more goals from him. Los Angeles seems to be the team for him to do it against as he's scored 3 goals in the 3 games against the Kings so far in the season series.

Wayne Simmonds

#17 / Right Wing / Los Angeles Kings

Height: 6-2

Weight: 183

Born: Aug 26, 1988

Wayne SImmonds has come a long way since last season when he was getting checked all over the place by Shane Doan. Now he's developing into quite the player for the Kings. He's riding a 6 game point streak in which he's been 4-4-8 and on the season overall he's 9-10-19 and an astounding +13. He's one of the players to keep an eye on with Ryan Smyth still out of the lineup.

The Owie List

Phoenix Coyotes Injuries

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

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

Los Angeles Kings Injuries

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Andrei Loktionov	shoulder	11/26/2009
Ryan Smyth	other-excused	11/18/2009

Kings Gameday: I'm Going to Poll You

RudyKelly — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:31:44 -0000

More photos » by Lori Shepler - AP

What's more amazing: this goal or the lady's expression in the background? (AP Photo/Lori Shepler)

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Next Game

Phoenix Coyotes
@ Los Angeles Kings

Thursday, Dec 10, 2009, 7:30 PM PST
Staples Center

Complete Coverage >

So I was texting my brother during the game on Monday (the one against Calgary) and I described Simmonds as a "train made of meat." He texted back, "You're retarded, that doesn't make any sense; Simmonds is obviously a train that carries meat" I told him that wasn't intimidating at all, unlike a train physically made of meat. He said, "Who the fuck would that scare?" and I replied, "I don't know... vegetarians?" The point is, if we're going full bore with this Meat Train thing, we need to decide this: is he a Train of Meat (stupid), or is he a Meat Train (awesome)? This is very important.

***

Also important: tonight's game. The Kings are only 3 points out of first in their division, but Phoenix is only 4 points behind LA. The Kings are coming off a pretty emotional game but it's important for them to buckle down tonight and play tight defensive hockey. Most importantly, they need to make sure they're making crisp passes out of their own zone because Phoenix likes to jump in on mistakes any chance they can get.

***

If Sharks fans were mad last night, how mad are they going to be when Patrick Marleau signs with Los Angeles in the off-season?

Prediction: Kings win, 3-2. Goals by Meat Train, Frolov and Kopitar.

Poll

Is Wayne Simmonds an actual train that carries meat, or is he a train made out of meat?

Thursday Links: Sweet, sweet victory edition

averagejoe — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:00:29 -0000

Ahh victory. So nice. And ~~A2Y~~ A2M, since I know you read this: How did that taste?

Blues news

The Blues won AGAIN on the road. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
Wanna know why the Blues wore blue on the road? The Wings asked to wear white, but forgot they did. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
Even though the Blues won, goal scoring — or a lack thereof — remains a problem. [Belleville News-Democrat]
Blues beat writer Jeremy Rutherford will be chatting at 1 p.m. today. [STLtoday]

Hockey news

Here are your results from Wednesday. [Yahoo! Sports]
Thursday's schedule. [Yahoo! Sports]
Randy Moller is back. [Puck Daddy]
After Martin Brodeur tied his shutout record, Terry Sawchuk has been in the news. Wanna know more about Sawchuk? Read and learn. [The Copper and Blue]
A Coyotes fans think the NHL did right by suspending Ed Jovanovski. [Five For Howling]
Mark Messier will be the GM of Canada's Juniors team. ... [ESPN]
... And it looks like Wayne Gretzky could be the head coach. Sorry Canada, you're being led by a cry baby and ... well, a guy who can't coach. [TSN]
Ray Emery is having surgery to repair a torn muscle. [ESPN]
Tyler Myers is trying to pull a Barret Jackman — win the Calder as a defenseman. [ESPN]

Other links

This is either one really smart, or really stupid drug dealer. But hey, it sure beats calling all of you clients and telling them you're not selling. [Pic]
I never had braces, but both my sisters and my best friend did. I made fun of them. A lot. [When I had braces...]
The list is the weapon of the lazy blogger. Here is a list devoted to ranking lists. My head hurts. [Never.com]
Michael Scott is very, very quotable. [IGN]

Video

Answer Man sends along this video. Treat it accordingly (language NSFW).

gametimelinks(at)gmail.com

Coyotes Sign 3rd Round Pick Michael Stone to Entry Level Deal

OdinMercer — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 07:35:36 -0000

Michael Stone of the Calgary Hitmen and the Coyotes 2008 3rd round pick.

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Michael Stone was signed by the Phoenix Coyotes today to an Entry Level deal with the usual "Terms not disclosed by the team" disclaimer. Stone is likely in his last year in the WHL with the Calgary Hitmen as he'll be 20 for the upcoming season. Teams are allowed to carry a certain amount of "overage" players, but Stone has already shown that he's capable of quite a bit and would probably do better with a higher level of competition that the AHL should be able to provide should the coaching and development situation down in San Antonio get straightened out.

I asked around for some scouting reports on Stone, who is tied for the WHL lead in scoring for defensemen (13-21-34) and resident SBNHockey WHL fan Resolute had the following to say about Stone:

Stone's primary strength is his offence. He has shown a very good progression offensively throughout his WHL career and is one of the most dangerous players from the blueline in the league.
He is the Hitmen's top defenceman this year, and a co-captain, which argues for the respect he's earned from the coaches and his teammates.
He has been fortunate to play his junior career with one of the strongest teams in the WHL over the last four years, and I think has benefited from playing with guys like Karl Alzner and Alex Plante (who was his parter for much of last year). I do think he was also protected by these guys though, and without them, his defence has been a little poorer this season compared to the last couple (as his change in +/- would tell you).
He'll never been an all-star for his defence, but he is capable. He has been the kind of guy who doesn't really dominate, but he also doesn't hurt you.
-Absolute killer on the powerplay
His development benefited from the Hitmen's organizational philosophy of having players play. As a 16/17 year old, he was not protected as much as other junior teams tend to treat their younger players. It has paid off for the organization and the players, as many have gone pro. He's got 49 games of playoff experience in just three years, with Calgary expected to go deep again this year. Not many come close to that in a full career.

While Stone isn't "new" to the organization. It's good to see he's developed well in the WHL system. The league isn't a soft junior league. You have to be able to hit and take a hit in order to play in the league and do it fairly well to be a defenseman on top of that. Looks like we'll see soon either here or in San Antonio.

NHL gets Jovanovski suspension right

zyllyx — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 03:46:07 -0000

More photos » by Ross D. Franklin - AP

2 days ago: Phoenix Coyotes' Ed Jovanovski (55) checks Minnesota Wild's Andrew Ebbett, bottom, as Coyotes' Robert Lang, right, of the Czech Republic, tries to avoid the collision in the third period during an NHL hockey game Monday, Dec. 7, 2009, in Glendale, Ariz. The Coyotes defeated the Wild 2-0. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

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Don't skate with your head down. Bad things will happen.

If you've ever played a single shift of competitive contact ice hockey, that is one of the first lessons you are taught. You either learn that lesson from your coaches... or from the little birdies that circle your head after you get destroyed by an opponent with better situational awareness than you have.

That's why some Phoenix Coyotes fans are peeved today that Ed Jovanovski will be missing the next two NHL games for the team.

But with all due respect to my fellow fans, I think they need to do what Jovo himself has to do - suck it up and take it like a man. (Even the women.)

In Monday night's game against the Minnesota Wild, Jovanovski caught Wild forward Andrew Ebbett skating into the offensive zone with his head down. As Ebbett swept towards the right half-boards, Jovo skated to intercept. The big Coyotes blueliner caught Ebbett with his forearm and left glove hand smack in the head, and Ebbett crumpled to the ice with blood flowing from a glove-induced cut. Ebbett would get back to his feet but stumble around the ice until the referee's whistle about twenty seconds later.

If you haven't seen the hit itself, here it is:

Now, it's pretty clear that Ebbett had his head down and was more concerned about his skating than the rather large Coyote curling on a collision course with him. There should be no question about what Ebbett deserved for his inattention - the euphemism is "getting rubbed out," but it really means being suitably destroyed by a hard check.

It's pretty obvious that Jovanovski got the job done. What's at issue is the tools he used and how he used them.

Jovo apologists naturally believe that the smaller Ebbett's size was the reason why Big Ed's forearm connected with the Minnesota forward's face (the argument being that Jovo would have to be on his knees to deliver a body check on a guy that small). There's enough gray area in the height differential, they say, to make the hit at least questionable instead of the cheap shot that it obviously was.

The referees apparently agreed, because Jovanovski didn't get penalized at all for the play. Some Coyotes fans believed that the non-call proved that the hit wasn't dirty (although the idea that a non-call should indicate that a hit is clean is an ironic one, considering the hue and cry over hits like Patrick Kaleta's destruction of Petr Prucha which led to no penalties or suspensions for Kaleta but drew an instigator and misconduct for Martin Hanzal, who fought Kaleta after the hit).

But, for once, Colin Campbell and the League of Extraordinarily Subjective Gentlemen that make up the NHL disciplinary office got the post-game call right. The suspension was the right call because head shots like Jovo's are a completely unnecessary and hazardous part of the game of hockey and should be punished quickly and decisively. The idea that head shots are unavoidable is ridiculous and hockey players know it - they simply take advantage of the erroneous fan sentiment to the contrary and the historic subjectivity of the league to get away with them (see: Mike Richards and David Booth).

This is not to say that the league should take physicality out of the game. A head-shot-free NHL would simply require players to modify their aim a bit. And that's the truth, no matter what the hysterical traditionalist lobby would have you believe. More truth? Head-shotting is the lazy player's way of body checking. It is a cheap facsimilie of a hockey play that once was the prime method of separating a player from the puck. A head shot is as lazy and reprehensible for players who want to play the game right as it would be for a skater to skate with his head down or admire a pass crossing the offensive blue line.

If there is a reason for Coyotes fans to be outraged at the NHL for Jovanovski's suspension, it should be because the league still applies arbitrary and subjective criteria to head shots instead of a consistent and serious penalty for the offense - in other words, that Jovo should (rightly) be penalized and others are (wrongly) left untouched. The fact that the NHL does not take decisive unilateral action only serves to make the problem worse - leading fringe players to try and get their names out on ESPN, TSN, and YouTube by head-shotting an opponent and thereby raising their profile, or more "mainstream" players to do so to create a reputation of toughness in the league that will help them when contract negotiations are up. In other words, as long as there is no concrete and devastating penalty for head-shotting, it will remain a viable (and, in some cases, unpunished) course of action for players.

Fortunately for the Coyotes, they can play and win with Jovanovski out of the lineup. So fans shouldn't worry too much about the effects of Big Ed's suspension. But even if we had to roll with someone like, say, David Hale or Matt Jones on the blueline as a result, I would think that the bigger issue would be what we would have to live with if Jovo got away with a cheap shot. The Coyotes are already under the gun because of the NHL's ownership and the attitude towards our market - adding "cheap-shotting" to the list of our perceived crimes against hockey is something we could live without.

Ed Jovanovski suspended for blow to the head: Andrew Ebbett concussion: Nathan Smith recalled from Houston

BReynolds — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:09:22 -0000

More photos » by Ross D. Franklin - AP

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From NHL.com:

TORONTO -- Phoenix Coyotes' defenseman Ed Jovanovski has been suspended for two games, without pay, for an incident in NHL game #436 against the Minnesota Wild, December 7, the National Hockey League announced today.

Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Jovanovski will forfeit $67,357.52. The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.

At 9:34 of the third period, Jovanovski delivered a forearm to the head area of Minnesota's Andrew Ebbett. No penalty was assessed on the play.

Jovanovski will miss Thursday's game at Los Angeles and Dec. 12 against San Jose. He will be eligible to return Dec. 14 at Detroit.

So wait, let me get this straight. A "star" player was suspended for TWO games after hitting a non-star player in the face? All this despite the fact that it is not publicly known if Ebbett is going to miss any time?

I. Am. Amazed.

Congrats to Colin Campbell for getting one right. A blind nut finds a squirrel every once and a while right? (Yes, that was on purpose.)

-Buddha

In case you didn't see the hit

EDIT (nathaneide): Andrew Ebbett has been diagnosed with a concussion. He is the fourth Wild player to be out with either a concussion or post-concussion symptoms this season. Ebbett's loss hurts the Wild as he has three goals and a shootout goal in his seven games in a Wild sweater.

Nathan Smith has been recalled from Houston to fill Ebbett's slot and will join the team in Colorado.

EDIT #2 (nathaneide) This is a fantastic post over at Silver Seven Sens (SB Nation's Ottawa Senators blog)

Size is not an excuse for a high hit - Silver Seven Sens
The problem with this argument is that Jovanovski didn't hit a player that was taller. He hit a small player, and could see that he was hitting a small player. This argument is akin to getting undressed in front of a coworker and, during your wrongful dismissal claim, trying to argue, "Come on! If she was a man it'd be okay!" You can't argue that something is fine in other circumstances, you have to take the circumstances as you find them. Jovanovski found himself defending a short player, and he has to handle that situation accordingly. He's not less blameworthy, nor is he exonerated, simply because he's a big player.

Poll

Is the 2-game suspension enough for Jovanovski?

Coyotes Celebrate Cinco de Coyo(te), Bryzgalov Gets Shutout in 2-0 Win.

OdinMercer — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:15:48 -0000

More photos » by Ross D. Franklin - AP

2 days ago: Phoenix Coyotes' Ilya Bryzgalov (30), of Russia, celebrates his shutout win with teammate Keith Yandle (3) at the end of the third period after an NHL hockey game against the Minnesota Wild Monday, Dec. 7, 2009, in Glendale, Ariz. The Coyotes defeated the Wild 2-0. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

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Woooooo! 5 wins in a row baby! Have a Margarita tonight because it's Cinco de Coyo! The fans around the arena were certainly high-fiving and celebrating and while there's still a long way to go, a shutout win over the Wild certainly made everyone feel good and elevated the Coyotes to 37 points on the season. It also sets up a matchup with the Kings on Thursday that will be for the fifth place spot in the West and 2nd in the division either way. But enough with standings and all that poppycock. To the gameness!

First of all I was really annoyed that Mikkel Boedker was a scratch tonight. I'm glad Peter Mueller got to come back and played fairly well but Mikkel Boedker has played his pants off lately and not gotten any reward for it. I get that Tippett doesn't want to use younger layers as that just doesn't fint into his scheme, but to call him up and use the minutes he's played pretty well and get no reward is disappointing at best. Then the guy I highlighted in the pregame Cal Clutterbuck, was a scratch as well as I guess he got some sort of illness that's been going around. His absence didn't really decrease the amount of hitting and all around scrapping as the teams would get into hitting matches and fights especially later in the game.

For the most part the game itself was an outstanding goalie battle. Both Ilya Bryzgalov and Niklas Backstrom were outstanding, but the Phoenix offense was just good enough to get a missed rebound past him for the first goal by Scottie Upshall. Then Shane Doan made a fantastic move to get the puck to Taylor Pyatt who scored his third goal in as many games. On the offensive end that was the entirety of the production offensively.

In the third period though the game started to get away from the officials in a big way. Mid way through the period Ed Jovanovski made a big hit on one of the Wild players (I can't recall who it was) but there was no penalty and the Minnesota players wanted to go after him. The hitting picked up in a big way after that with Winnik, Upshall and Jovo all getting hits on people within a short time. The emotions boiled over at the end of the game with a huge scrum in the corner. Keith Yandle threw a few punches in the middle of the crowd, but Vernon Fiddler grabbed a guy out of the pile and simply beat the hell out of him. Owen Nolan and Keith Yandle almost went after each other too, but the officials were able to clear the players off the ice so that the team and the crowd could celebrate what really mattered in Ilya Bryzgalov's shutout. I wouldn't be surprised if there were some fines or suspensions handed out because of the after the horn activities.

Coyotes vs. Wild - Game Preview #30

OdinMercer — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 01:00:15 -0000

Hehehe. Clutterbuck. Teehee. (Saying that never gets old...)

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Yeah yeah. I'm getting this thing done! And if you're lucky I'll even do a post game later tonight. (Nah, I'll do one. I've been slackin') Tonight your Phoenix Coyotes, owner of a season tying long, 4 game win streak face the equally hot Minnesota Wild who have won their last 5 games. While Minnesota certainly had a lackluster beginning to the year, they've found something to get them through lately. So it's streak vs. streak tonight at Jobing.com Arena!

FIVE FOR WINNING

HIT! HIT! HIT! HIT!
Sporting last year's hits leader in Cal Clutterbuck (teehee) the Wild like to play a hard hitting style and when they get the lead there the rest of their game seems to follow. The Coyotes need to be prepared to answer the Wild's physical play with hard hits of their own. Daniel Winnik was laying guys out against the Senators and other players like Scottie Upshall and Mikkel Boedker were showing some surprising checks as well.

Play for, you know, 40 minutes at least...
In the post game presser, Coach Dave Tippett even said that the Coyotes weren't putting in a whole lot of effort after they got the first couple of goals. More times than not the effort that they gave on Saturday won't be capable of winning them the game. If it wasn't for the outstanding play in goal and some lucky breaks the Coyotes could have lost that game rather easily. As Tippett said, we'll take the two points, but we can play better and we have to play better.

Give Bryz Some Room, Then Don't Hang Him Out to Dry
The Coyotes got the early lead on Saturday giving goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov some room to breathe and not have to hold the entirety of the team on his shoulders, at least for a little while. Except then the team just decided to go into prevent style play and Ilya was getting a lot more pressure than a shot here and there. When the Coyotes get the lead they need to keep playing as though they don't have it because when they back off the gas bad things quickly happen.

Get Out of the Corners
Lately the Coyotes have been spending way too much time playing around in the corners. Both on the defensive end where they haven't been winning the puck battles and clearing, as well as on the offensive side where they just keep giving the puck to the new guy in the corner and going around in circles. At some point you have to get the puck out of there and into some sort of playable area.

Is the Ice Really That Bad?
The puck seems to be going everywhere as of late at the Job. Is it really an ice issue at this point? I don't understand. I thought we put in a new system to fix the ice issues. Shouldn't the issues also improve now that the temperature outside has gone down? One would think so, but it seems as though they've just gotten worse with the puck handling getting significantly worse in the second half of periods. Some solution needs to be found, and barring that the Coyotes just need to adjust to it and turn it to their advantage.

Key Players

Mikkel Boedker

#89 / Left Wing / Phoenix Coyotes

Height: 5-11

Weight: 195

Born: Dec 16, 1989

Mikkel Boedker is fighting for a more permanent role on this Phoenix Coyotes team and needs to show the coaching staff some irrefutable evidence of why they should give him more playing time. He's been getting time with top players like Shane Doan and Robert Lang. He's been throwing a good hit here and there, but he needs to create some scoring or draw penalties so that the staff has to leave him on the ice. He's come really close a couple of times on some nifty stick moves near the net but he needs to seal the deal on one of them soon.

Andrew Brunette

#15 / Left Wing / Minnesota Wild

Height: 6-1

Weight: 210

Born: Aug 24, 1973

Last time out Andrew Brunette rang up a couple of points on us with a goal and an assist. He's really been the standout player for the Wild this year with 10 goals and 16 assists. In order to win tonight we'll need to find a way to contain him and keep him from creating opportunities.

The Owie List

Phoenix Coyotes Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Peter Mueller	other-excused	12/07/2009

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

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

Minnesota Wild Injuries

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Brent Burns	concussion	11/19/2009
Pierre-Marc Bouchard	concussion	10/04/2009
Petr Sykora	concussion	11/09/2009

Senators' surge in final minutes not enough, lose 3-2 to Coyotes

DarrenM — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 05:32:51 -0000

More photos » by Ross Franklin - AP

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If you thought the road trip was looking bad after the first three games, well, it didn't get any better with tonight's effort. The Senators were outworked for 56 minutes by the Coyotes tonight, only coming on strong in the final few minutes. Though no Senators had great games tonight, the team's best players were probably Ryan Shannon, Chris Campoli, and Jonathan Cheechoo. Shannon used his speed to constantly recover the puck in the Coyotes' zone, and was the only player who seemed to have his legs under him for the whole game. Campoli responded well to his benching, creating a lot of offensive chances and being strong in his own end. Cheechoo had assists on both of the Senators' goals, and in fact created both opportunities by driving hard to the net and getting some lucky bounces.

There were also a number of Senators who had poor games, the worst coming from Erik Karlsson and Brian Elliott. Karlsson partially caused the second Coyotes goal after his shot was blocked, leading to a rush by Taylor Pyatt. Karlsson was weak on the third goal as well, and even took a penalty 16 seconds into an important Sens powerplay late in the second period, bringing the teams back to even strength. Elliott once again let in too many soft goals early, which shattered the confidence of the club in front of him.

(Read more for further analysis and video highlights)

Cory Clouston played musical chairs with his lines, especially the defensemen, but to no avail. No line managed to stand out for more than a shift, all struggling to create any chances that weren't wraparounds or shots from the perimeter.

In the end, the Sens simply could not recover from those two first period goals, and never really looked comfortable in the game until the final two minutes (when they were playing 6-on-5 with a pulled goalie). If the Sens don't pull out a win against the Ducks tomorrow night, then they will have gone winless for the entirety of this roadtrip. The team needs to figure out what it's doing wrong (which is most everything), and start playing on the road like they do at home.

Coyotes vs. Senators - Game Preview #29

OdinMercer — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 01:06:31 -0000

Spartacat? Really? This looks like some sort of high lion. Random drug test!

View full size photo »

The Coyotes try to extend their winning streak to 4 games tonight as the Ottawa Senators visit Jobing.com Arena for a late 8:00 start for some reason. We're not on Hockey Night in Canada so I don't understand the lateness if we're aren't showing up the Sens on National TV.

Unfortunately some of our divisional rivals have already gotten some pity points today, so we need to make up for it and kick some Senatass!

FIVE FOR WINNING

Take Advantage of the Sens Goaltending
With Pascal LeClaire on the shelf the Senators have been leaning on backup Brian Elliot to keep the season going. On the current road trip it really hasn't gone that well for them as they've gone 0-2-1 and got shelled after coming out to the West Coast. They lost 5-2 to the Sharks followed by a 6-3 loss to the Kings on Thursday. Prior to that he hadn't fared all that badly, but now has a 3.03 GAA and a .895 save percentage. With the Coyotes stingy defense 3 goals could be plenty.

Jovanovski Back in the Lineup
Looks like Ed Jovanoski will be back in the line up for the first time since November 27th when he came back for a couple of games after being out for most of the month. The Coyotes miss his defense, but more importantly his offense which he seems to have re-discovered this year. Jovo has 13 points in 18 games so far this year with 5 goals. Before his injury he was starting to get some power play time with him parked near the net that was really disrupting opposing PK units. Hopefully there's not much rust to knock off and he gets back to for soon.

Which Brother Will Be Victorious?
Milan Michalek and his brother Zbynek Michalek will meet for the first time since Milan was traded to Ottawa in the Dany Heatley trade. They always seem to play well against each other, but we need Zbynek to be the better Michalek tonight, especially on defense as his brother has four goals over the last three games, even though those have all been losses.

Get Hitting!
With an already thin defensive core, defenseman Alex Piccard was taken out of the game against the kings after a hit by Dustin Brown. Pair that with the fact that the big hitter for Ottawa, Chris Neal, is out until likely the middle of the month and we'll see a team that can be pushed around a little in terms of hitting them consistently when they touch the puck. The team isn't riddled with injuries, just at key positions and to important guys.

Be Consistent on the Power Play
During the last game fans watch the Coyotes constantly passed back and forth and cycled on both 5-on-4 and 5-on-3 chances without a lot of results. They would mishandle the puck, step on the puck, kick the puck, etc. The team would tic tac it at the points, but couldn't get the puck anywhere near the slot because of the bobbles. The whole point of the passing back and forth is to pull a guy out of position and get behind him. The Coyotes just seem to be passing for the sake of passing. Make something happen guys!

Key Players

Daniel Winnik

#34 / Center / Phoenix Coyotes

Height: 6-2

Weight: 210

Born: Mar 06, 1985

Daniel Winnik may not be getting goals or points or be the driving force on the offense, but lately he's been everywhere on the ice defensively. When I watch games on TV he gets noticed by both our home announce team and by the opposition as a player that along with his linemates Vernon Fiddler and Taylor Pyatt are just pains for the opposition to play against. He's been handing out hits and making all the little plays that help prevent goals and get wins.

Brian Elliott

#30 / Goalie / Ottawa Senators

Height: 6-2

Weight: 201

Born: Apr 09, 1985

Like I said earlier, he's filling in for the injured Pascal LeClaire and the Sensators will live or die based on his performance in goal. Sure the defense gets some of the credit for the goals against over the past few games, but if we let Elliot get comfortable in the crease he'll be the one that caries the team. If he's soft he'll be the goat that the loss gets hung on.

The Owie List

Phoenix Coyotes Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Ed Jovanovski	other-excused	12/05/2009
Peter Mueller	other-excused	12/05/2009

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

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

Ottawa Senators Injuries

Doubtful

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Alexandre Picard	other-excused	12/05/2009

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Shean Donovan	knee	11/20/2009
Pascal Leclaire	jaw	11/24/2009