Coyotes' Roller Coaster Season

The Phoenix Coyotes are having a very up and down season. Just when things seem to be picking up, it all starts to go wrong again. This is especially the case at home where Phoenix have only managed a 10-10-5 record. With another 16 games to go at the Jobing.com Arena, the Coyotes have to turn home ice into an advantage if they want to reach the playoffs. After an awful December, Phoenix got themselves playing well again in January after finding that pack-mentality once more and picked up some much needed wins.

Unfortunately, towards end of the month, the roller coaster ride took another dip as Phoenix lost four games in a row at home, although they did end the month with a 5-2 win over the Avalanche before the All-Star Game. The weekend break gave the Coyotes a much needed five day rest after a gruelling schedule. However, if the Yotes fans thought that might help their team, they were wrong. Since their return from the break Phoenix have gone 0-2-0 with losses to San Jose and Vancouver. Both defeats were bitter pills to swallow as Phoenix blew a 3-0 lead against the Sharks to lose 5-3 and were shut-out against Vancouver, at home, as the Canucks stormed to a 6-0 victory.

Dave Tippett is of the belief that the Coyotes are just not skating hard enough.

"...We’ve got some things to sort out. You have to realize how hard it is to win; we don't have enough players playing hard enough to win."

Defensively the team looks very weak. Other than Keith Yandle, no defenseman can claim to have had a great year so far, which is not a good thing as the team enters the business end of the season. There is enough quality in the team and the coaching staff for the Coyotes to turn this slump around but they also need new faces in the franchise.

The Coyotes' next 2 games are at home and the first is against the Minnesota Wild, who are riding a wave of momentum at the moment. They then play the Colorado Avalanche before heading to Dallas for an important Pacific Division clash. Phoenix need to turn the Jobing.com Arena into a fortress and they need to do it in the next game against a team who have enjoyed scoring against the Coyotes this year. The Wild have won two of the three meetings against Phoenix this season so the Coyotes will be looking to even things up in their final game against each other. Puck drops at 6:00pm Saturday February 5^th.

The race for the playoffs in the Western Conference is still agonisingly tight so the Coyotes need to start putting some daylight between themselves and the chasing pack.

'Yotes lose it in a Shootout

12 - Paul Bissonnette

Too many penalties are killing the Coyotes right now. Just when momentum seems to be swinging their way, they slash, hook and throw it over the glass, handing it back to the other team. They stormed into an early lead last night in New York with a PPG from Taylor Pyatt and goal from Adrian Aucoin. I was actually hoping the latter goal would be given to Paul Bissonnette, the Coyotes enforcer who seemed to re-direct the puck. Bissonnette has built up quite a fan-following in the desert and around the hockey community and his funny tweets are well worth checking out.

However, three consecutive penalties in a row destroyed any rhythm the Coyotes had and let New York back in the game with a PPG of their own before the end of the first period. The Coyotes had gone from dominant to desperate in less than ten minutes. They aren't showing any of that killer instinct that served them so well last season. They would often win games by just a single goal because they were so strong mentally and defensively. The second period started off very well, just like the first, with Martin Hanzal taking a fantastic pass from Shane Doan in front of the net and putting the 'Yotes ahead by two again.

However, with six seconds remaining in the period, a mistake by LaBarbera let in Brandon Prust to score a short handed goal and swing the momentum back in the favour of the Rangers. As Dave Tippet put it, the Coyotes are simply shooting themselves in the foot. They are playing well enough to beat teams, but then throwing the game away with poor decisions and costly mistakes.

The Coyotes still had a one goal advantage going into the third period but gave that up around the 14 minute mark. After a goalless overtime, the game went to a shootout. Last season, the 'Yotes were so strong in the shootout but have been far from impressive this season. Only one goal was needed to decide the outcome and it was Erik Christensen who managed to score it, meaning the Coyotes left Madison Square Garden with only one point when they really should have had two.

Last night in New York was a microcosm of the 'Yotes' season so far. They have simply been inconsistent. They need to find that rhythm that served them so well last season and they need to learn not to throw it away when they have it. The Western Conference is so close this year that these odd points here and there that the 'Yotes are dropping could prove costly. Of course, there is a long way to go, but I'd love to see those mistakes rectified sooner rather than later.