IT CAME FROM OUT OF THE ICE : COYOTES (0) VS
LIGHTNING (4) 1/9/20
CAPSULE : The Tampa Bay Lightning are currently
in pretty much everyone’s top 10 Power Rankings. They come into tonight on an 8
game winning streak and are by far the hottest team in the NHL right now. On
top of that they are the 4th highest scoring team in the league and
have a record of 25-13-4. The Coyotes are currently on a 4 game winning streak,
so it looks like the Hall addition is starting to click with the overall team.
Tocchet has made it clear he isn’t dealing with passengers for long, so that
internal competition seems to be paying off. It is also not hurting that the
Coyotes are putting pucks in the net, with an average of 4.5 goals per game
during this win streak. Defensively the Coyotes will be tested, because they
Lightning just put a 9 spot on the Canucks just 2 nights ago.
FISCHER (36) – Missed a bouncing puck shot
chance in front of a wide open net in the 1st period.
HALL (91) – Had a
nice couple of moves in the 1st to get a bit of a breakaway, but got
caught at the last moment and the play was broken up. He had a strange penalty
called on him in the 3rd just for braceing for a hit, and getting
hit from behind.
CROUSE-TRAP (67) – Didn’t fall for an effort
by the Tampa Bay defensemen to draw him into a fight in front of their tender. Instead
the Lightning were given a 2 minute Un-sportsmanlike conduct penalty. Our Power
Play did not get a shot off on that Power Play though.
5 – The number of
extremely obvious penalties that Tampa committed in the 1st 2
periods that were not called. The Coyotes had 2 that I saw not get called. Where
is Tortorella ….get him on the phone.
SODERBERG (34) – Was one of the team
leaders in shots on net after 2 periods. The bad news is that the number of
shots that was the highest on the team after 2 periods was 2. No forward or
defensemen even had 3 shots on net.
HINOSTROZA (13) – One of his roughest games in a
long, long time. Like dinosaurs roamed the earth the last time he had a game
where he looked so over-matched. Even
with that he did have a few good opportunities to put the puck in the net in
this game.
NEXT CHRISTMAS, WE SHOULD DECORATE WITH SOME CONOR GARLAND
(83) – Garland looked frustrated most of this game but did get a
couple shots on net.
IPHONE (11) – I am
not an Apple fan, but they do make hilarious commercials sometimes. That dude
using the slow-mo-cam with the sprinkler is hilarious.
RICHARDSON (15) – Ended the game with 2
shots and 3 blocks. He also won half of his face-offs which was better than
anyone else on the team who took face-offs tonight.
STEPAN (21) – 2 shots on net, but not a
great night for him. Honestly I can’t remember
a time he even had possession of the puck.
DVORAK (18) – Just 1 block on the night, but he did log a
pretty good amount of ice time.
SCHMALTZ (8) – Had just 1 shot on net, but he
played like his usual self. If the Coyotes did score a goal tonight, he would
likely have had the assist, because almost every shot we got seemed to be him
passing it to someone. I think he even sent a few passes to the fans for them
to shoot.
KESSEL (81) – Just 1 shot on net. These are the
types of games, where you would have liked to have seen him be a factor.
KELLER (9) – Just 2 shots on net, but he was
skating quite a bit better tonight and was definitely engaged.
TURBO TAX – Believes
people can be good at anything…. but
taxes? Do you really have to be good at taxes if their software works properly?
OEL (23) – Had 2 shots on goal and a hit. Tampa’s defense
was just a bit too much tonight, so most of his shot attempts seemed to get
blocked.
DEMERS (55) – 4 hits and a block. He’s looked
better the past 2 games.
CHYCHRUN (6) – Had a shot on goal and 3
blocks. So there was no lack of effort on his part.
NO PC ZONE –
There is a dance move in SKA, called “Skanking”. So there’s that.
GOLIGOSKI (33) – Had a hit and 2 blocks.
He did a fair job of keeping the puck in play on offense, but the team as a
whole had a really hard time getting enough good looks.
LYUBUSHKIN (46) – I liked his game tonight. He was all over the
ice, but one man defense never works.
IN THE 90’s –
Garbage and Hole should have formed a giant band called Garbagehole.
OESTERLE (82) – Just an okay game for him.
Overall you would think I would have a lot more bad to say about the defense,
but this game should have probably been 2-0 and not 4-0. That’s an offense and
goal-tending issue for the most part.
HILL (31) – Seemed to be cheating off the post
just a fraction of an inch on that Lightning goal in the 1st period. The 2nd
goal in the 1st period was literally scored off Oesterle’s skate on
a bounce that might as well have been a shot with traffic in front. The 3 and 4th
goals in the 2nd period were just skill on the part of the Lightning.
Hill was left out to dry on that 4th goal. Having said that, the
Coyotes needed a lot better goal-tending than they got tonight. Hill needs to
shake it off. It also would help if he teammates would have put some pucks in
the net.
EXTERNAL ICE - Oilers
4 vs Canadiens 2, unfortunately that puts the Oilers at 53 pts. /
Canucks 2 vs Panthers 5, that keeps the Canucks at bay with 50 points and 2
straight loses. The Flames and Golden Knights play later. If Vegas beats the
Kings they will regain 1st place in the Pacific for at least the
night. A loss by the Golden Knights would put leave the Coyotes in 1st
place.
WRAP UP – This game was probably due.
Hopefully next up is a Coyotes 5 or 6 game win streak. Sometimes games like
this just serve the purpose of bringing you back down to earth. Right now in
the season that is okay. You would rather have games like this now than in
March and April. The Coyotes end the night at 25-17-4 with 54 points.
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