Follow @james_tanner123 It seems like the Coyotes have been off forever, though it was only Saturday that they picked up their first win of the season against the hated LA Kings. Tonight they play their third of four at home to start the season against the Edmonton Oilers, who were absolutely dusted last night against the same Kings, 6-1.
The game should be no problem, since if the Coyotes can beat the Kings, and the Kings can beat the Oilers, then the Coyotes should be able to beat them too.
If only it worked like that.
The Coyotes have not had to travel and have been resting since Saturday,and the Oilers will be playing for the second time in two nights, and will possibly be without two of their best players in Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle, both of whom sat out against the Kings. It would seem that all things point towards an easy win for the Coyotes.
Unfortunately, the game still has to be played, and I don't feel too confident about tonight's game. The reason is because the Oilers are yet to win a game and since they were embarrassed in last night's game they are no doubt going to come at the Coyotes with an amount of desperation rarely seen by NHL teams in October.
The Coyotes will start Mike Smith in net, but I don't know if this is the right move. For one, Smith was horrible in his first game and Dubnyk was pretty good in his. I realize that it would take more than one game for Smith to cede the net to Dubnyk, but at the same time, I think it's good to reward your backup when he plays a great game and there is the added bonus of motivation from playing his old team.
However, Smith is the starter and you can't really criticize that at this point. Still, he was bloody awful in the first game of the season.
Also of note is that Sam Gagner will play his former team tonight. I guess that matters, but what I'd really like to see is Tippett move him higher in the lineup. So far he's looked good in the two games he's played and showed flashes of skill, but what is a guy supposed to do with David Moss and Laurie Korpikoski on his wings?
He is such an obvious improvement over Erat, and Vitale could easily take a more prominent role that I believe it's only a matter of time before he gets moved up to play with Hanzal.
I can't wait for tonight's game. The Oilers are usually a fun team to watch and it will be interesting to see how the Coyotes combat their speed. It will also be interesting to see if Shane Doan can continue to play like he is 25.
Thanks for Reading.