Momentum still trouble for Coyotes
The increasing number of long-term injuries to members of the Coyotes roster makes it difficult to truly evaluate the quality of this team. But by no means do the injuries qualify the Coyotes for a free pass.
While injuries can be a convenient scapegoat for poor performance and, conversely, abnormally good performance, they do not explain 100 percent of the Coyotes’ issues as a team.
Take Sunday’s 7-1 loss to the Calgary Flames as an example. The Coyotes, who were playing on the second end of a backto-back and skating in their third game in four nights, experienced a significant drop-off in both effort and performance from their previous two road wins, victories over the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks.
Granted the first-place Flames are a much tougher assignment than both the Oilers and Canucks, but neither that nor injuries excuse the Coyotes’ mistakes in Sunday’s disappointing road finale.
The same roster that flopped in Calgary posted perhaps its best effort in Edmonton just one night prior. Despite having the same players in both games, the same focus simply wasn’t present.
Perhaps this was due to goaltender Adin Hill having a subpar performance in front of his hometown crowd in Calgary. Perhaps it was a simple case of fatigue at the end of a road trip. Perhaps it was a byproduct of having too many injured players.
The Coyotes have rarely been at full health all season long, but there have been two games eerily similar to Sunday’s loss in which the Coyotes, with a chance to carry significant momentum through the end of a road trip, have fumbled it away before returning to Arizona.
The first case was perhaps the Coyotes’ worst loss of the season, a lopsided 6-1 defeat to the Detroit Red Wings on Nov. 13. After an emotional 4-1 win over the Washington Capitals the day prior, the Coyotes fell flat in a winnable game.
In the Detroit loss, the Coyotes weren’t nearly as injury-ridden as they are now, either. Although they were without center Christian Dvorak and No. 1 goaltender Antti Raanta, the Coyotes still had forwards Brad Richardson and Michael Grabner in tow (they hadn’t yet traded for Nick Schmaltz). The Coyotes also had a healthy Jason Demers at that point.
The second case featured an effort that wasn’t nearly as poor as the Detroit or Calgary losses, but was still rife with mistakes in a 3-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Dec. 16 just one day after a comeback win over the New York Rangers. While the Coyotes played reasonably well most of the game, the Hurricanes capitalized on a few defensive lapses in the second period and the Coyotes could not overcome the deficit.
Still, the most detrimental part of the Carolina loss was that it leaked into the subsequent homestand and started a three-game losing streak for the Coyotes, who simply can no longer afford to give away any more points at home.
The Coyotes have actually been a better road team (12-10-1) than a home team (8-12-2) this season. Their loss to Calgary precedes a brief, two-game homestand against tough customers in the San Jose Sharks (Wednesday) and Pittsburgh Penguins (Friday) before a three-game road trip through eastern Canada.
A quick look at the Western Conference standings show that the Coyotes entered play Tuesday four points out of a playoff spot. But a more sobering look reveals they are also just four points from last place. There will be a lot to sort out in the final 12 or so weeks of the season.
With the reality so murky, Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet has said on numerous occasions that he’s not a “rollercoaster guy,” which has less to do with amusement parks and more to do with preaching consistency in wake of so much adversity to his team.
“Honestly, we started two weeks ago just being a day-by-day team,” Tocchet said. “Listen, every day you walk in and something bad is happening to the team. This guy is out, that guy … If we talked about it and we thought about it so much, we’d start to cry every day.”
Goaltending shakeup
The Coyotes assigned rookie goaltender Adin Hill to their AHL affiliate in Tucson and recalled Calvin Pickard from his conditioning stint, meaning Darcy Kuemper and Pickard will serve as the Coyotes’ goaltending tandem for the time being.
Given the way Kuemper has been playing (.920 save percentage in his last 10 games), the guess here is that Kuemper will receive the bulk of the starts with Pickard serving as his backup.
Pickard, who was claimed off waivers from the Philadelphia Flyers earlier this season, has not yet appeared in a game with the Coyotes. Pickard registered a 30-0 record to go along with a 3.47 goals allowed average and .889 save percentage in four appearances with the Roadrunners.