One Fan's Perspective

The Colorado Avalanche (19-16-1) come to town to face the Phoenix Coyotes (17-15-5).  By virtue of their crushing win over the Nashville Predators the other night, the Avalanche leap frog over the Phoenix Coyotes and take the seventh playoff position away due to their higher number of wins.

Like I said, winning both games against Los Angeles would be pretty significant.  Now, they face a focused, and hot Avalanche team that is 7-3 in their last ten, winning three in a row without Joe Sakic, and their last two without Peter Stasny.  Both players will still be out for a significant length of time.

However, head coach Tony Granto has his team playing well without its star players save for Ryan Smyth.  One could surmise that Smyth would be carrying his team, but that isn’t really the case.

The Avalanche blue line has gotten pucks through for scoring opportunities.  At one point in the Avalanche victory over the Predators, each pair of defensemen had points.  That type of scoring is what the Coyotes need also.

It could have been the Predators had to travel a long way to a high altitude on a back-to-back contest (and we have seen that before as well – what is up with that schedule anyway?), but the Avalanche had their way with the weak side pressure to score goals.  The Coyotes’ defense must keep their heads on swivels to prevent that from happening.

Additionally, Coyotes’ goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov looks to be game-time decision with a sore back.

It’s a meaningful New Years’ Eve game.  Hopefully, it will be a good one.

Other notable links:

From the Denver Post:

Injuries Leave Avalanche Uncentered but Upbeat

From Mile High Hockey:

Less Hitting?

Tags: Colorado Avalanche, Hockey, NHL, Phoenix Coyotes by pbcoyotes
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The Colorado Avalanche (19-16-1) come to town to face the Phoenix Coyotes (17-15-5).  By virtue of their crushing win over the Nashville Predators the other night, the Avalanche leap frog over the Phoenix Coyotes and take the seventh playoff position away due to their higher number of wins.

Like I said, winning both games against Los Angeles would be pretty significant.  Now, they face a focused, and hot Avalanche team that is 7-3 in their last ten, winning three in a row without Joe Sakic, and their last two without Peter Stasny.  Both players will still be out for a significant length of time.

However, head coach Tony Granto has his team playing well without its star players save for Ryan Smyth.  One could surmise that Smyth would be carrying his team, but that isn’t really the case.

The Avalanche blue line has gotten pucks through for scoring opportunities.  At one point in the Avalanche victory over the Predators, each pair of defensemen had points.  That type of scoring is what the Coyotes need also.

It could have been the Predators had to travel a long way to a high altitude on a back-to-back contest (and we have seen that before as well – what is up with that schedule anyway?), but the Avalanche had their way with the weak side pressure to score goals.  The Coyotes’ defense must keep their heads on swivels to prevent that from happening.

Additionally, Coyotes’ goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov looks to be game-time decision with a sore back.

It’s a meaningful New Years’ Eve game.  Hopefully, it will be a good one.

Other notable links:

From the Denver Post:

Injuries Leave Avalanche Uncentered but Upbeat

From Mile High Hockey:

Less Hitting?

Tags: Colorado Avalanche, Hockey, NHL, Phoenix Coyotes by pbcoyotes
No Comments »

After having the past two games ripped from the Coyotes, the Coyotes find a way to bounce back and steal one from the Colorado Avalanche. With the 4-3 overtime win, the Coyotes now retake sole position of eighth place due to the amount of wins that the young franchise has accrued this season.

Peter Mueller also takes sole possession of first place in goals among rookies in the NHL as he scored his 16th of the season.

Radim Vrbata came up huge in the game by scoring the last two goals of the game. The first one was from a very crafty face-off win by Steven Reinprecht and the other was just the ugliest goal I’ve seen from the Coyotes this season, but an important one to take that extra point away from the Avalanche.

The question mark on the game remains with Martin Hanzal who seemed to hurt his shoulder in the first period and did not return. There is no word as of yet to his status.

The Coyotes had to fight hard for their victory as their bench was shortened due to the Hanzal injury and Vrbata was out for portions of the game after taking an errant pass by Ed Jovanovski off his ankle. Obviously, it’s good that Vrbata found his way back to the game.

Daniel Carcillo was sent to the AHL to re-evaluate his game and to get his speed back. After his bout with Darcy Hordichuk the other night against the Nashville Predators, he shoved the linesman instead of walking away from the fight where he lost.

When Carcillo was injured, the Coyotes were winning and they played a tough team concept. He was warned by just about everyone that he was on a short leash. The Coyotes were getting the benefit of the doubt when Carcillo was not on the ice and they were more disciplined as a team.

That being said, he does bring an emotional lift to the team – he just needs to control it better and it’s something that he has battled all season. Hopefully, the stint down in the AHL will help him evaluate his game a little bit and keep his over-aggressive tendancies, espcially where the officials are concerned, in check.

The Coyotes fly up to Calgary to play in yet another important game with the Flames. Every game is important now in these last 30, and each game can be considered a playoff.

It’s great to be a Coyotes fan right now…

Tags: Colorado Avalanche, Hockey, NHL, Phoenix Coyotes by pbcoyotes
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