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Coyotes, Sentators and les Habitants

October 20, 2016, 10:30 AM ET [107 Comments]
James Tanner
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Last night I watched the comments section come to life on my TV as a man in a Garfield costume lied and screamed at me for 90 minutes I'll never get back.

And speaking of 90 minutes I'll never get back, I watched the Coyotes vs Senators on Tuesday and felt the exact same way. I honestly don't know how a game with 11 goals scored could have possibly been so boring. Was it just me? Or is there something about playing the Senators on a Tuesday in October that really drives home just how many games an 82 game schedule really is.

Now, normally I'd write about it directly after the game, but yesterday was a very busy day and I just couldn't get to it. So here's some abbreviated thoughts on the game and just some stuff in general:

But first, we interrupt this blog with the greatest song Bob Dylan ever wrote, and I think, probably the deciding factor in giving him the Nobel Prize for Literature (most people don't even know it's a cover):




- Mike Smith is injured. For how long? Who knows? The soulless and uncreative types were quick to tell us he's out with a "lower body injury" which means not a concussion. And which I believe is also French for "bad at your job."

- Lucky we have Craig Morgan who reports it's a leg injury. See? That wasn't so hard. It's not like you could tell by watching the video or anything.

Check out this sweet chart from Ian Fleming @ dispellingvoodoo.com



- You would think the Coyotes' weakness was goaltending, based on the reputations of their goalies, but statistically, both Smith and Domingue are fine. While I think Smith is probably better and don't want to see him out, I don't think Domingue will be a problem.

- Sure, he was horrible - 3 goals on 11 shots in relief the other night - but you get a free pass any time you have to come off the bench and replace the starter, in my opinion anyways.



(Can you believe I was at a wedding on the weekend and the DJ refused my request to play that song? Said it would, and I quote "Ruin the party." Come on dude, the only thing Amadeus ruins is your ability to get through the day without rocking out.)

- On the positive side of the game, Domi, Hanzal and Vrbata where around 60% and have been pretty dominant so far when on the ice.

- Note to Leafs fans: a loss in overtime isn't really a loss. I would rather be the 1-0-2 Leafs right now than the 3-0 Canucks (Canucks I believe is also a French word roughly translating into "that isn't going to last."

- OEL was 60% vs Ottawa, and the Coyotes actually carried a majority of the play. Your goalies won't cost you very many games, and if you ever lose directly because of them, I say it's not that big of a deal cause it's gonna happen sometimes, no matter what.

- The worst players from a possession-perspective were Ryan White, Tobias Rieder, Kevin Connauton (probably not a good NHL option) and Brad Richardson.

- Hands up if you're surprised?

- Scratching Chychrun for Connauton is an objectively bad coaching decision. Only one of those players clearly belongs in the NHL.

After the Coyotes took my long-standing advice and ditched Michalek and Dahlbeck, I was starting to think it was because they were beginning to understand how to evaluate defenseman. If they can't see that Chychrun deserves to play over Connauton I'll have to re-evluate my re-evaluation of their re-evaluation.


- Dylan Strome looked good to me in his debut. Had an assist in around 14 minutes, and was on the ice for only two more shot-attempts than his line had. No reason to scratch him ever again as far as I'm concerned. I recommend more ice-time.

- In fact, Strome was the most used player on the Power Play and is clearly the Coyotes most talented offensive forward.

- I am hopeful that the Coyotes will pick between Dauphin and Richardson for tonight's game, because it is frankly stupid to have players like Dvorak and Strome and not use them.

Tonight's game (4pm Coyotes Time) is against the Canadiens and seems like it will feature the season debut of Carey Price. Daily Faceoff has the Coyotes juggling their lines and moving Duclair back the top line with Hanzal and Domi.

They also have Doan joining a line with Strome and Reider, and Dvorak centering Dauphin and Vrbata. These are the best lines yet, although the fourth line of Marinook, Richardson and White will be a tire-fire.


Thanks to Ian Fleming for the chart, Corsica.hockey for the stats (5v5 unless noted) and to Technotronic for rocking not only the party, but my heart.

xxoo
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