Last night, with all the excitement of a pre-season game, in the let down of the year, the Coyotes played the Stars and won 2-1. It was a moral victory of sorts, I guess, but the Stars probably were more concerned with not getting injured than they were with winning.
Oh, what could have been.
All the Coyotes needed was three extra points at any time throughout the season and last night would have been a win-and-your-in game. Since the last weekend of the NHL season was a complete bust as far as important games go, it's a shame Phoenix couldn't have done this because, for once, they would have had the eyes of the entire league on them.
Instead, what transpired was a complete and total disappointment. Three OT loses in April alone. Two times shutout. Unable to beat the Predators to stay alive on Thursday. A seven game losing streak to finish out the year.
To put this in perspective:They missed the playoffs by just three points even though they lost seven games in a row in April. That is insane. The Dallas Stars did not make the playoffs; the Coyotes let them in.
Still, it's hard to be mad at these guys. They gave a solid effort. When Smith went out, on March 24 against the Rangers, they were winning that game by a goal with seven minutes to go and ended up losing in OT. They went 3-8 without their star goalie, and had he not been injured, the Coyotes would be playing next week.
There are a lot of things to like about this team, a few things to hate, and a lot of things to analyze, breakdown, look forward to etc. There is potential roster moves, the draft, free agency, and potential coaching/managerial changes to discuss. Plus, there is the playoffs to talk about, so stay tuned. Even though our team is done, we can still have a bit of fun.
Twitter:james_tanner123