Last night the Coyotes defeated what is arguably the best team in hockey, the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-1 in what I assume was a great game.
Unfortunately, despite looking forward to this game for some time, I was unable to watch it due to a malfunction with the DVR. For whatever reason it chose to record only two minutes of the game before malfunctioning.
I love DVRs. Besides many other reasons, (for instance, watching the games after my wife goes to bed!) they make doing this job possible. Without one, I’d have to sit through three hour broadcasts – including commercials and intermissions, which are the worst – which would make this part time gig much too time consuming. I’d still do it, for sure, but the hours necessary would literally triple without recording games, is my point. With the DVR, I can also tape multiple games every night and it only takes just over an hour to watch one if you skip through the commercials and fast forward whistle to whistle. I don’t always watch games this way, but it’s a nice option.
As with all great things, however, there are drawbacks. The main one in this case being that sometimes for whatever reason, the recording gets screwed up. I can only be thankful it wasn’t a playoff game or an episode of Girls (kidding!).
So, despite not having seen the game, I did check out some highlights and it looks like the Coyotes played great. They seemed really upset about not beating Buffalo on Thursday and it apparently sparked them. They out-shot the Penguins, managed to give them only three power-plays, and it appeared that Mike Smith made some incredible saves.
The win puts the Coyotes just one point behind the Canucks (with one game in hand) and two behind the Wild (with two games in hand). The Wild got a loser point last night, falling to the Flames in a shootout, and the Canucks where inactive.
The Coyotes have positioned themselves with the chance to at least be in a playoff spot when the NHL shuts down for the Olympics next week. Before the break, the Coyotes play the Stars on Tuesday, then Chicago Friday and the Stars again on Saturday.
The team has played well lately, (even the Buffalo loss, I maintain, wasn’t that bad) and nothing about the Canucks or Wild looks all that threatening, so the Playoffs remain a good bet. That being the case, it promises to be an exciting week, roster wise, as the Coyotes should be looking to add and there is the possibility of some interesting roster moves occurring league wide, in the week leading up to the break.
If it’s true that Evander Kane really is available, that should be, in my opinion, the Coyotes main target. Adding a first line player is the only way this team can hope to be a contender. The names I keep hearing mentioned – Stepniak, Whitney, Boyes – are a joke. Ray Whitney is a hundred years old for Pete’s sake. (Pete, in this case, being my cat). Personally, I would love to see the Coyotes make a splash with a blockbuster and not just some depth move for an ancient forward who won’t really help that much.
That's all. Thanks for Reading.
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