When you win three in a row after only winning two in 20, it's quite impressive, and that's just what the Coyotes did last night when they held off the Toronto Maple Leafs after a torrid start to the game.
With (ridiculous) Ekman-Larsson to the Leafs rumours swirling, the Coyotes came out flying and outshot the Leafs 10-1 to start the game. Anti Raanta shut the door, mostly, and the Coyotes picked up their third in a row, impressively doing it against one of the NHL's best teams.
The game was a bit weird because the Coyotes came out on fire, but as soon as the Leafs woke up it looked a bit more like how most people probably expected the game to go, but they couldn't score on Raanta. (Except for once).
So sure, the Leafs absolutely dominated periods two and three, and sure it took one of the worst video replay calls in the history of the world, and a crossbar to get it done, but done it was.
The Coyotes are now only three points behind the Oilers. Of course, the Oilers have three games in hand, but don't worry about that.
Just eight points out of a playoff spot, no big deal!
The Coyotes - who got Hjalmarsson back last night, and will get Chychrun back soon - are looking good lately and I expect them to perform more like the team I thought there were in the summer from here on out.
They will also be adding the AHL's best player, and most likely the best player not currently in the NHL, Dylan Strome, sometime very soon. Strome, as I believe I said yesterday, is well on his way to the AHL scoring title.
Also, after getting a hattrick the other night, the pre-game lines had Duclair back on the fourth line, but he played mostly with Domi and Dvorak, and while I don't think any Coyotes players other than the goalie were all that good last night (post first period, at least) I do like seeing Duclair back with Domi, as I think they make an excellent pairing.
The line of Keller, Richardson and Fischer was interesting, and I like that Coach RT is starting to balance the lines out a bit. The only problem is that Stepen, Perlini and Rieder were awful - 28% Corsi, which is a seriously bad night for those guys. Either way, I do enjoy the experimenting.
Overall, I'd say the Coyotes were definitely lucky to win this game, but then again, if any team deserves a few games like that, it's them.
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