IT CAME FROM OUT OF THE ICE : COYOTES (2) VS STARS (3) 2/19/20

IT CAME FROM OUT OF THE ICE : COYOTES (2) VS STARS (3) 2/19/20

CAPSULE : Unlike last year the Stars have a great team this year built for a deep run. They are currently 34-19-6 and are just 2 pts out of 1^st place in the Central Division. They are 6-2-2 in their past 10 games and just conquered a small country in the Middle East. That last part might not be real. The Coyotes come in struggling in their past 10 games going just 4-3-3. They did win their last 2 games, but on the road they’ve been particularly bad since Kuemper went down to injury. The good news…even after this game they will still have a better main logo than the Stars. The Coyotes do have a Wild Card spot going into this game and are 1 point up on the Winnipeg Jets. That is only because apparently the Jets did not get my email telling them to lose last night.

CHYCHRUN (6) – Got his stick up in the face of one of the Stars players which drew a penalty just about a minute into the game. Not a great start for him, but it did look like it wasn’t intentional. The penalty lead to a Power Play goal by the Stars who couldn’t have possibly been more out of defensive sink on the play than they were. I am guessing he felt pretty crappy about this penalty and after getting like 5 minutes of counseling, he ended the 1^st period with 5 shots on net. That was more shots than any of the forwards.

SICK – I am completely out of it tonight, so if I say something really crazy, that’s probably just me being me, but it could also be the “out of it” talking.

SCHMALTZ (8) – Had a wicked shot on the Stars goalie in the 1^st from downtown, but wasn’t able to put it in. Half way through the 1^st period, Schmaltz already had 3 shots on net. In the 2^nd Schmaltz was crushed into the boards head first and was able to get up after the play. I think Dallas should have been given a 2 minute minor at least. No penalty was called. Schmaltz had an assist on the Hall goal in the 2^nd period.

SODERBERG (34) – Had a good chance to score in the 1^st, but just couldn’t get it in the net. The play came on a huge turnover in front of the Stars net. I say a huge turnover, because there are a lot of turnovers that lead to almost nothing. I will call those “little” turnovers.

GARLAND (83) – Got head-locked and taken down in the 1^st period drawing a penalty against the Stars. The Coyotes got a Power Play and it seemed like they had a million shots on net during those 2 minutes. He didn’t register a shot on net in the entire game. Not trying to pick on him too much though. Garland does lead the team in goals with 20.

NOPE – Checked my feet and they in fact do not go boom, boom, boom, walking away from you, or anyone really.

DVORAK (18) – Has 9 goals since January 1^st. That is the best on the team in that time frame. Tonight Dvorak had an assist on the Christian Fischer goal in the 2^nd period.

OEL (23) – Was crushed up against the boards in the 2^nd. The play did draw a penalty on Benn and OEL was down on the ice for quite some time. This was definitely a retaliation hit from the last game when these two teams played. I kind of wonder if Tocchet is giving them the “HIT EVERYTHING!!” talk or the Road House “BE NICE, TILL IT’S TIME TO NOT BE NICE” talk. Benn was given a 5 minute major and a game miss-conduct. OEL did return for the 3^rd period. The bad news, is they actually had a drop off defensively in the 3^rd with OEL in.

KESSEL (81) – Had the puck passed to him right in front of the net and couldn’t get a handle on it to bury a shot in a wide open net. He did have 2 shots after 2 periods, but I didn’t see either of them. I did see him send some shots over the net.

HALL (91) – Scored on the 5 minute major to Benn on a really nice shot to tie the game 1-1 in the 2^nd period. For the first 2 periods, Hall looked as good as he’s looked all season. He finished the game with 5 shots on net.

MY FACE – I need to shave. This thing is out of control.

GOLIGOSKI (33) – Face-raked a dude in the 2^nd period but didn’t get called for a penalty. It seems like they dropped the whistles in the 2^nd period after the flurry of whistles that lead to a 4 on 4 and eventually a power play for the Stars that they scored on to take a 2-1 lead at the time.

LYUBUSHKIN (46) – The Dancing Bear Lyubushkin did get credit for an assist on the Fischer goal in the 2^nd period.

OESTERLE (82) – Had an assist on the Hall goal in the 2^nd period.

FISCHER (36) – Tied the game up at 2 in the 2^nd period. Just a lot of hustle on his part when the Coyotes needed to answer a Dallas Power Play goal.   

RICHARDSON (15) – Had 3 shots on net and was 71% in the face-off circle. This year that’s a good night for him.

STEPAN (21) – Ended the game with 2 shots and 2 hits.

HINOSTROZA (13) – Had a shot on net, but not much else to show for his efforts.

KELLER (9) – Not sure I heard his name more than twice all night. Not good enough.

HJALMARSSON (4) – Had 5 blocks on 2 hits. Solid night out of him.

CROUSE (67) – Did stuff.

HILL (31) – Played about as hard as he could have in this one and made some fantastic saves. The issue wasn’t the goal tending, it was the fact that the Coyotes can’t seem to score 3 or more goals when the need to. I think Tocchet’s decision to not play Raanta tonight was the right one.

EXTERNAL ICE – Nothing was going on tonight that would affect the Coyotes Wild Card spot. They really need a win tomorrow night against the Blues. It would also be extremely helpful if Winnipeg would lose to Ottawa and the Predators would just forfeit the rest of the season.

WRAP UP – This one came down to making mistakes on defense in the 3^rd period when the really needed to play better. Having said that, this was a very good effort out of the Coyotes for most of this game after the first 10 minutes or so.