One Fan's Perspective

These two teams have matched up well against each other from the beginning.  For two games in the series, regulation and an overtime period could not decide it where the Desert Dogs won one and lost one in the shootout.  The other game was just as tight, but a victory for the Coyotes nonetheless.

Coyotes’ goalie Ilya Bryzgalov has been a beast against much of the NHL, but against the Sharks, he has been especially sharp.  He has stopped 99 of 102 shots for a .971 save percentage, and has a 1.46 GAA average.  It could be that fellow Olympian/Countryman Evgeni Nabokov is usually between the pipes for the Sharks and there might be a rivalry/friendly competition, but whatever the reason, hopefully the same quality of goaltending happens again tonight.

The Coyotes and the Sharks have matched up extremely well and pundits across the NHL truly thought that the Coyotes would have a difficult go of it.    The Sharks are coming off a game last night where they posted a 5-2 victory against the Capitals.  Nabokov was in the net for the Sharks, so backup goaltender and Olympian Thomas Greiss might see some action.  He has a 3-3 record and the Coyotes faced him their only regulation victory against the Sharks.

The Coyotes can tack on more wins at home to extend their 10-game streak, first in franchise history.  Because of their spectacular start in the first half of the season, there are some dividends as described by Bob at the Western Hockey Exchange.  If the Coyotes go .500 the rest of the way, they earn 94 points, which just might qualify them for post season play.

He’s absolutely right as that has been the magic number since the lockout.  Let’s hope they surpass that number.

In the media, and an assorted blog or two, here is what others are saying:

Coyotes – Sharks Preview, from The Sporting News

Sharks Game Day: Fireworks in the Desert, from Fear the Fin

The Skinny Sharks and Coyotes, from Dave Vest and PhoenixCoyotes.com

Luke Lapinski from PhoenixCoyotes.com breaks down the game this way:

Tags: Hockey, NHL, Phoenix Coyotes, San Jose Sharks by pbcoyotes
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The Sharks are the predominate road team in the NHL. With a 16-3-3 record before last night’s contest, the Sharks looked unstoppable. The last time they lost a road game in regulation was October 27th against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Until they met the resilient team of the Phoenix Coyotes who have learned not to quit.

After dropping three in a row against the Sharks earlier in the season, the Coyotes have regrouped and now have figured out just how to play this talented team. Best of all, they won last night’s game without their top scorer of Radim Vrbata or solid veteran Steven Reinprecht who left the game due to injury.

As the news broke about Vrbata and Reinprecht’s departure, I became concerned about how the Coyotes would answer, especially, when the Sharks scored first. Clearly, Ed Jovanovski and the line of Shane Doan – Joel Perrault – Peter Mueller would quell any of those questions and remove any doubt.

Jovanovski had a huge night with a goal and three assists, Doan had two goals and an assist, and Mueller had three assists. All players, save for Mueller, were a plus-2 and Mueller was a plus-1.

Earlier on Tuesday, Mueller was named to the Young Guns game for the All-Star weekend. He showed everyone later that night why the selection was appropriate. And since Jovanovski was selected as a reserve defenseman for the All-Star game, he has ratcheted up his performance a notch with a three-game point streak and he is third on the team for points scored.

Joel Perrault scored his fifth goal of the season and continues to impress since being recalled from San Antonio. Last season, Perrault was waived from the Coyotes, only to be snatched by the St. Louis Blues on the waiver wire. Later, the Blues waived him again and the Coyotes reclaimed him. Perrault spent the bulk of his time in San Antonio with the Rampage, but this season he clearly is a different player.

After having a rough two periods, where the Coyotes held on, Ilya Bryzgalov returned to form in the third, especially when the Coyotes through Perrault’s goal early in the frame took the lead. I had the feeling that nothing would get past Bryzgalov and once again he became the solid goaltender.

Bryzgalov bailed the team out of tough spots earlier in the season when he arrived in Phoenix, and in this five game stretch his teammates now return the favor.

The Coyotes are now on a four-game winning streak at home, their home record improves to 9-10-1, and they are three points from tying for the eighth and final playoff spot. Once again, Wayne Gretzky and his coaching staff of Ulf Samuelsson and Grant Fuhr have been pressing the right buttons to make sure their team plays at the highest level it can.

For more, see:

• The Arizona Republic’s recap of Tuesday night’s game
• The San Jose Mercury News recap of Tuesday night’s game

Tags: Hockey, NHL, Phoenix Coyotes, San Jose Sharks by pbcoyotes
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When I was a young lad, just like all of my friends, I watched professional wrestling. Having lived in the south, it was not the WWE (which was WWF at the time), no it was NWA/WCW and they hyped this pay-per-view event called “The Great American Bash”.

It was billed as the biggest.event.ever and we wouldn’t want to miss it because it may never appear again! P.T. Barnum was right and people forked over their $20.00 (yes, it was that cheap then) to watch it, thinking that it wouldn’t ever come back.

Only, the Great American Bash happened so often, they started offering subtitles to ensure each show was “different” than the other. It made Ric Flair rich, so I guess it worked.

The problem is, the “pro” rasslin’ was pre-determined as they knew the outcome. Hockey though is very real:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z427GW8uir0&rel=1]

It should be a passionate game between these two teams tonight. And Daniel Carcillo is not ready to come back.

With the Coyotes .500 road swing, it’s pretty important for them to establish some sort of dominance here at home. Finishing off the home stand before the All-Star Break can only help them with their playoff aspirations.

However, with the Sharks having an incredible season on the road and a 16-3-3 record, it will not be easy. After their loss against the Anaheim Ducks, in a game where they pretty much controlled the opposition, they found a way to give away a point.

They will not make the same mistakes twice.

The Coyotes have to improve their home record and the time is truly now. In addition, Bryzgalov lately, has been decidedly average over the course of four games. No one can certainly blame him though since he has held this team together, but now everyone must elevate their games to a different level.

In the interview with Keith Yandle, Daniel Winnik, and Craig Weller, found on Phoenix Coyotes.com, the emphasis is not lost on the young grinders.

Nothing has changed over there with San Jose. They lead the division, and thanks to a two-hour team meeting following the loss against the Coyotes, they have been focused since the last time these two teams squared off going 7-1-2.

The Sharks have another goal scorer to lead the team besides Joe Thornton and that is Zbynek Michalek’s brother Milan with 15 goals. Thornton leads the team in points with 53! He has more points than Michalek and Patrick Marleau combined.

The defensive horse for the Sharks is Doug Murray as he carries a plus-17 rating. Expect him to be physical once again with the Coyotes. His battles with Shane Doan in this series have been fantastic.

The Coyotes must give Bryzgalov some support and score. The VHS line needs to re-emerge and the goal scorers need to fire everything they have at the opposition. If they can stay physical, without getting into penalty trouble, they should open the home stand on a positive note.

Tags: Hockey, NHL, Phoenix Coyotes, San Jose Sharks by pbcoyotes
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