IT CAME FROM OUT OF THE ICE : COYOTES (3) VS SHARKS (2) 12/17/19
CAPSULE : The Sharks are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games after looking like they were pretty much on fire for part of November. They did recently beat Vancouver 4-2. Coming into the game they are sitting at 16-17-2 in 6th place in the Pacific. The Coyotes traded a bag of pucks for Taylor Hall, which in spite of my last post, I am pretty happy about. Taylor has had a really rough year, but maybe he can get it going here in AZ. The best part of all is that the team didn’t have to give up a single current player on the team to get him. Details on all that can be found here. The Coyotes come into tonight’s game 1st in the Pacific with a record of 19-12-4.
GOLIGOSKI (33) – Drove Couture away from the puck on a breakaway for the Sharks in the 1st. Kuemper did end up having to make a save on another shot just seconds after that. Just another random solid play from him.
OESTERLE (82) – Meh, he did have a shot on net, but this wasn’t his best game.
HIGH STEPAN TO THE NET (21) – Had a pepperoni pizza as Tyson would say in the 1st, but couldn’t put it past Dell. Later in the 2nd he would make it 2-1 Coyotes scoring on a crazy move after getting a pass from Crouse. I mean this play was highlight reel type stuff.
DVORAK (18) – Played outstanding tonight. Just 1 block and no shots on net, but he was very solid.
SCHMALTZ (8) – Had an assist on the Soderberg goal in the 1st period.
11 - The number of shots the Coyotes had on net after 2 periods. How does that even happen? Even just taking 20 shots would be low for as back and forth as this game has been.
GARLAND (83) – Zero shots on net. Maybe he was nervous that his mom was the game?
CROUSE (67) – His assist to Stepan in the 2nd period was pretty legendary.
KESSEL (81) – Crickets.
GRABNER (40) – Had one of his patented breakaways short handed in the 3rd, but couldn’t put it in the net. I will say Dell got better as this game moved along making huge saves.
HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN KING (91) - Had a shot in the 2nd period off a pass from Kessel, but his stick broke on the play and he ended up hitting the side of the net. In the 3rd period with 2:37 left Hall made a really good play to get the puck in the offensive zone and put a pass to OEL that ended up in the net. Really nice effort on his part.
RICHARDSON (15) – Got a 2 minute minor in the 3rd for touching the puck on on a face off. Not only did he not actually touch it taking his hand off the stick, but I have never seen that penalty called. He also gets tonight’s award for most minutes in the box among the Coyotes. Both penalties called on him were penalties that usually don’t get called.
TYSON - If you read this blog a lot, you know how much I love Tyson Nash, but I think it’s hilarious and awesome that he finally likes a player (Taylor Hall) almost as much as he loves Conor McDavid. He probably mentioned how great Hall is like 40 times in the 1st period alone. These two might have to get a room (jk).
KELLER (9) – Deep into the 3rd period Keller was tied for the most shots on net with 3. Very good game out of him.
FISCHER IN THE DARK (36) – Looks like he lost the “Hall is on your team now” sweepstakes. He didn’t take the ice tonight.
MARATHON - I don’t think I could do a 9 movie marathon for the STAR WARS movies. I am pretty tough, but I barely have time to write this blog this time of year, much less, spend a day watching 9 movies.
CHEESE AND CHICKEN HINOSTROZA (13) – Had a nice shot in the 2nd period bearing down on the Sharks with a breakaway, but Dell just barely got a glove on it, batting it away. He would also put a few moves on the Sharks D in the 3rd period, but his shot ended up hitting Richardson on the way to the net.
OEL (23) – Got nailed in the ankle with a hard pass from Kessel in the 3rd. That might have woke him up because he later scored the game winning goal making the score 3-2 at the time.
NESS (42) – Had a hit and a block. Not one of his best games, but he did well enough.
SODERBERG (34) – Blasted a goal past the Sharks tender Dell, early in the 1st period. The assist came from Keller and Schmaltz on a play that came from behind the net. I know this is Soderberg’s section in the post, but Keller looks like he’s on freakin fire right now. I will say that this is a shot by Soderberg that probably should have been stopped, but I am not here to root for pucks shot by Coyotes players to not go in the net. You will have to find another blog for that. The Coyotes took 6 shots total in the 1st period, 3 of them were taken by Soderberg.
CHYCHRUN (6) – Decent game for him tonight.
LYUBUSHKIN (46) – Had a pretty good block in the 2nd period before coming crashing down on the ice in front of Kuemper. Pretty great effort by him on the play. He destroyed Marleau trying to get to the net in the 3rd. No call on the play, but there was a lot going on out there that wasn’t called on the Sharks as well. He did get a penalty in the 3rd for playing without a helmet? Bloody hell. I know it’s a penalty, just a weird one. He out hit the rest of the defense with 8 total tonight. He just was not having it.
PLAY HISTORICAL ON FURY ROAD - The Coyotes are 12-4-3 on the road. Yeah, it’s pretty nuts. It’s the second best road record in the league.
KUEMPER (35) – Stood on his head as usual. I guess, he could have had that second goal, but it was top far side, I just can’t hang that one on him.
EXTERNAL ICE - Not sure how this happened, but the Kings actually beat Boston in OT tonight 4-3. What the actual heck? Calgary tried pulling their goalie late against the Penguins and that failed big time. Once trailing 2-1 with 2:20 left in the game, they ended up losing 4-1. The leaves the Flames at 40 points on the season. That’s good for the Coyotes because the Flames had gone 8-1-1 in their previous 10 games. Unfortunately the Knights won their game against Minnesota 3-2, that gives them 43 pts on the season. Vancouver also lost which is always helpful.
WRAP UP – The Coyotes have 44 pts on the season and retain 1st place in the Pacific. Note to self. You won’t win many games with just 19 shots on net.
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