IT CAME FROM OUT OF THE ICE : COYOTES (5) VS PANTHERS (2) 1/7/20

IT CAME FROM OUT OF THE ICE : COYOTES (5) VS PANTHERS (2)  1/7/20

CAPSULE :  Adin Hill is getting his first start of the season in net for the Coyotes. That should not come as a shock after I questioned starting Raanta for a 7 game in a row on Saturday’s post. I am not saying I can predict the future. What I can say is that I have a time machine and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Want to know how crazy tight this playoff race is. If the Coyotes win tonight they will retain 2nd place in the Pacific Divistion no matter what any other team does. They come into this game with a record of 24-16-4. A Vancouver win and a Coyotes loss would put the Coyotes in 3rd place, conversely the Canucks sit in 4th place right now. So a lot of jumping could happen, but we really hope it doesn’t and the Coyotes just win this game tonight. The Panthers come in with a record of 22-15-5 and they are not exactly giving away wins at the moment going 7-3-0 over their last 10 games. How good is Florida right now? Well, they just man-handled Pittsburgh 4-1 making their heralded new goal tender Jarry (who currently has the best goals against average and save percentage in the entire NHL) look like a rent-a-goalie weekend special. For Hill, needless to say…this is literally a Coyote being thrown in the Panthers den.

GARLAND (83) – Might be secretly reading my blog, because the first thing he did tonight when he had the chance in the 1^st period was put a shot on net.

CHYCHRUN (6) – Is from Boca Raton, FL. I live on a street called Boca Raton. Which makes us …absolutely nothing!!

SODERBERG (34) – Is creeping up on Garland with 12 goals on the season. It feels like this year there is a very good chance the Coyotes will have at least four 20 goal scorers this season rather than 0 like last year. He has the 2nd best shooting percentage on the team, which is why when I am at the games I am always yelling at him to shoot.  Speaking of shooting, he did that in the 3^rd period and put the Coyotes up 4-2 at the time. It was his 3^rd shot of the game.

LYUBUSHKIN (46) – Had a pretty good chance in front of the net to put it in, but just missed on a puck that went completely across the width of the net. To this point Lyubushkin is one of the very few Coyotes without at least 1 goal on the season.  He actually lead the Coyotes in shots with 2 after the 1^st period. Way to go dancing bear.

STEPAN (21) –  Injured his hand in practice yesterday and had to leave the ice. So of course that means he’s playing tonight. He ended up getting an assist on the OEL goal in the 2^nd period.

HALL (91) – Tried his best to score on Hill in the 2^nd period putting a shot on him from right in front of the net. Fortunately Hill was able to make the save, because Hill is our goalie. Later in the 2^nd period he would take a shot on goal and it would actually get deflected by Dvorak into the Panthers net putting the Coyotes up 1-0 at the time. Hall wasn’t done firing the puck though, put the Coyotes up 3-2 in the 2^nd with a shot from about the same exact spot he shot from on the Dvorak tip in. It was Hall’s 9^th goal of the season. 3 of those have been with the Coyotes.

DVORAK (18) – Scored on a nice shot by Hall that might have gone in anyway. Nice effort on his part. The play was reviewed for a possible high stick, but from the replays it didn’t even look close.

OEL (23) –  Had an assist on the Dvorak goal in the 1^st period. He hardly ever takes a shot that isn’t from the blue line, but did in the 2^nd period and put it in the net passed the Panthers tender on a nice pass from Stepan. The goal tied it up at 2-2 at the time. He claims his wrister isn’t there anymore, but I kinda doubt that.

SCHMALTZ (8) – I mention this a lot, but Schmaltz had 7 more assists than anyone else on the team coming into this game with 28.

NOT TODAY – First off, I will never try to golf and hold a beer at the same time. Because beer is just gross and golf sucks.  

CROUSE-CHECKING (67) – Ended up with the only penalty called in the 1^st period. Crouse had an assist on the OEL goal in the 2^nd period. He also hit the post twice. With shots, not with his fists.  He would score in the 3^rd on an empty net goal.

KESSEL (81) – Had an assists on the OEL and Hall goals in the 2^nd period, then another one in the 3^rd period on Crouse’s open netter. That assist was really classy because Kessel  had a clear shot at the net and could have taken it himself.

IF – I was a Panthers fan, I would own one of their old jerseys, rather than the newer one. I like the new one, but that old one was great.  Actually you know what, I will just say, if I was a Panthers fan, I would buy both those jerseys.

FISCHER (36) –  Drilled a puck on net in the 3^rd period and couldn’t put it in. It was one of several pretty good chances the Coyotes had in the first 10 minutes of the 3^rd period. Hall had 2 deadly chances in the 3^rd but couldn’t put them in the net as well.

KELLER (9) – A fairly rare off game for him. I would have liked to have seen him take more than one shot.

HINOSTROZA (13) – Out of all the players on the ice for either team in the 3^rd period. Hinostroza was working the hardest. On several plays the Panthers were throwing 2 and 3 players on him to bash him against the boards and try to get the puck. Hinostroza won almost all of those board battles.

RICHARDSON (15) –  Had a decent game, but not a great one. He did get 2 shots on goal.

DEMERS (55) – Had an assist on the Soderberg goal. It was a much better night for him tonight. He also had 2 hits and 2 blocks.

GOLIGOSKI (33) –  Great game for him tonight. 2 shots, 1 hit and 2 blocks on the night.

OESTERLE (82) –  Going to go ahead and give him a pass on this one, not one of his better games.

HILL (31) –  Played outstanding after getting peppered with shots like crazy. He looked very comfortable in net tonight.

EXTERNAL ICE -  The Lightning crushed the Canucks tonight 9-2. Both teams came into that game on 7 game win streaks. Something had to give. That loss keeps Vancouver at bay for now with 50 points on the season.  As of this post the Golden Knights game hadn’t been completed.

WRAP UP –  The Coyotes come out of this game at 25-16-4 with 54 points. This is their first 4 game winning streak of the season. This road trip is pretty critical at this point, so it’s huge that they pick up as many points as they can now. No word so far on who will be in net on Thursday when the team heads to Tampa. Also I am doing a new thing on this blog now. The names in red are the players that scored a goal in this game.