The Coyotes and Jets played a hard fought, if sloppy return to NHL action last night in Winnipeg. The Coyotes were defeated 3-2, but picked up a point in the coin-flip.
Phoenix played what was, for them, a typical game last night, by which I mean they got decent goaltending and played well enough to win, but couldn't find the back of the net that one extra time needed to pull out two points.
How typical? Well, the Coyotes are tied for fourth in the NHL with 11 overtime losses, and if you take away the month of October, where they scored 3.5 goals per game and seemed like a high flying offensive team, the Coyotes are averaging 2.6 goals per game the rest of the season, which is in the bottom third of the league.
The problem with the Coyotes pretty much can be summed up in two words: Antoine Vermette. Now, don't get me wrong. Vermette has been easily the best Coyotes forward this year, but that is the problem.
If Antoine Vermette is your best forward, you are not going to make the playoffs. That's a maxim as old as the hills. Or at least it should be.
Vermette has been skating as the first line centre for much of the year, and although he's performed well, he is in a class by himself when ranking the skills of other first line centres across the league, and not in a good way.
The Coyotes don't allow a lot of goals and are in nearly every game. They are a very competitive group, but they really can't score. It seems to me that if they are not going to make a move to acquire a forward who can legitimately be considered a first liner before Wednesday, then they should just ship out anyone over the age of 28 and re-tool for next year. The only bad option is to stand pat, because this team can't and won't score and thus probably won't make the playoffs as currently constructed.
Last night was the kind of sloppy game you would expect after a two week layoff, and the high scoring across the league last night can probably be attributed to this. The Coyotes and Jets played a tight, hard fought game that was fun to watch, and exciting right to the end.
Unfortunately, the Coyotes were the victims of some bad luck as the Jets second goal should have been waived off due to goalie interference. That being said, the Jets could also complain about a non-call against the Coyotes followed by a ridiculous call against them that also led to a goal. The refs had a rougher return to action than the players, I think.
Either way, it wasn't a great game, and the Coyotes really started to take it over near the end of the third, and they dominated overtime, almost ending it three or four times. However, the game went to a shoutout, thanks largely to Ondrej Pavelec.
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One thing I would like to see the Coyotes do more, since they can't score very much, is fight. Last night it was absolutely pathetic to see the Coyotes best player, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, hit from behind (again) and see no one come to his defense. This is the second time - at least - that OEL has been pasted from behind into the boards this year and his team has not responded. Not that the hit was all that bad, but that is still pathetic.
For an example of what you should do, see the Jets. Early in the game Klinkhammer hit Tobias Enstrom from behind and was forced to fight, even though he clearly didn't want to, and got beat down pretty bad. Yes, the Jets had to take an extra penalty on the play, but who cares? If someone hits your guys from behind, you must fight them. The fact that they don't do this another reason that the Coyotes will probably miss the playoffs.
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One other note: I erroneously reported yesterday that prized Coyotes prospect Brandon Gormely would be making his NHL debut last night. I missed the press release that he was sent back down on Wednesday as Morris turned out to be healthy enough to play. Sorry for the bad info.
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The Coyotes are in Colorado tonight to face the Avalanche. Obviously, the Coyotes played last night and then traveled, so there is a good chance they will lose tonight to a superior and more rested Avalanche team.
Good thing you have to actually play the game then! Look for Griese to start since Smith started yesterday, and he is 4-0 in his career against the Avalanche.
One good sign for the Coyotes is that Erik Johnson, the Avs best defenseman, will be out of the lineup serving the second game of a pretty ridiculous suspension.