It was a rough, but historical and record-breaking week for the Arizona Coyotes. This week the Coyotes played three divisional games, in which they came away with only two points.
The Coyotes began their week on Wednesday at home against the Vancouver Canucks. Arizona got down early with a goal fromJake Virtanen(3), putting the Canucks up 1-0. The Coyotes were able to respond early in the second period off a goal fromMartin Hanzal(7) on the power play.
The Coyotes and Canucks stayed tied until five minutes left in the period, whenJannik Hanson(16) scored giving Vancouver the lead. The score would remain the same for the rest of the game, even after several attempts by the Coyotes in the third were unsuccessful.Ryan Millerwas the first star of the game, posting 33 saves to give the Canucks the 2-1 win.
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Arizona rebounded nicely on Friday with a convincing 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames.Shane Doan(20) was the story of the night, scoring early in the first to give the Coyotes a 1-0 lead. With the goal he tiedDale Hawerchukfor the franchise record in points. AnOliver Ekman-Larsson(15) power play goal gave the Coyotes a 2-0 lead in the second.
On the Ekman-Larsson goal originally the assists went toMichael Stoneand Martin Hanzal, but later in the second Doan was given the secondary assist, which in turn gave him the franchise record for points, with 930. AnAnthony Duclair(16) power play goal had the Coyotes up by three heading into the third period. A goal half way through the third period byJoe Colborne(8) cut the Coyotes lead to two goals.
Doan, being the leader he is, was not done and added his 21stgoal of the season on the power play. The goal again broke a franchise record, this time for most power play goals, formerly held by Hawerchuck. With two goals and an assist, Doan was the first star of the game.
Desperately needing two points and to string together some wins, the Arizona Coyotes traveled to San Jose to face the Sharks. On the second half of a back-to-back the Coyotes battled all game, but ultimately lost 4-1.Matt Tennyson(2) scored early in the first for the Sharks andChris Tierney(7) put the Sharks up 2-0 with a late goal in the first. Martin Hanzal (8) scored early in the second to cut the lead down to one, but that was all the scoring the Coyotes would produce. Sputtering on offense in the third period, the Coyotes allowed the Sharks to score twice.Tomas Hertl(11) andJoonas Donskoi(10) scored to give the Sharks the win.Melker Karlssonwas award the first star after his two-assist night.
After this rough week the Coyotes currently sit tied for fourth in the Pacific, six points out of a division playoff spot and five out of a wildcard spot. Arizona starts a three game home stand this week, hosting the Montreal Canadiens, Dallas Stars, and St. Louis Blues.
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If the Coyotes want to maintain the push for a playoff spot they must be able to string together some wins this week and start making up ground in the standings.
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