With a date with Boston on the schedule, the Arizona Coyotes showed up late and paid the price.
The Arizona Coyotes are singing a familiar refrain.
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Lackluster start creates big hole. Team doesn’t have the offensive firepower to get out of it.
Like most musicians the Coyotes play the hits.
Unfortunately, their biggest hit over the past several seasons is the one where they get clobbered for large stretches of each game.
Louis Domingue did all he could to keep the game scoreless in the first period.
The shot tally read 10-9 in favor of Boston, but the shot attempts tally was 29-16 which included the two or three posts that the Bruins pinged throughout the frame.
Nearly eight minutes into the second period, Ryan Spooner redirected Zdeno Chara’s shot past Domingue to finally put the Bruins up 1-0.
Less than two minutes later, David Pastrnak added another goal. 2-0 Boston.
The Arizona Coyotes were unable to muster much offense until late in the third period.
Radim Vrbata beat Tuukka Rask (or Rask beat himself) in order to get the Yotes lone tally.
They ultimately fell to the Bruins, 2-1.
Arizona Coyotes Player of the Game
Michael Stone returned to the Yotes lineup after a lengthier-than-expected absence and seemed to shift right back into gear.
He and Oliver Ekman-Larsson were the only two Coyotes who were positive in possession on Saturday night, no small feat considering they also had the most ice time on the team.
Stone also came up with two big blocks which isn’t a part of his game that you’d typically highlight considering his offensive capabilities.
The View From The 200 Level
How long? How long must we sing this song?
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The Arizona Coyotes are bad at hockey.
Whether it’s stubborn coaching or players who are unable to learn and adapt, or a combination of both, this team continues to trot back out each night with the same game plan and seem surprised afterwards about it not working.
There are several good pieces on the roster, and sometimes even good ideas shown, but almost all of it is flawed.
They play dump-and-chase hockey, yet often the puck carrier dumps the puck where his help cannot reach it or the help never materializes.
The power play is joke of perimeter passes and players who seem to be in a never-ending game of setting each other up but no one pulling the trigger.
Sustaining the puck in their own zone appears to be a herculean task that is beyond the scope of their abilities for the majority of each 60 minute contest.
Defensively, the team dresses at least five offensive defensemen per night but beyond whichever guy gets paired with Ekman-Larsson, not one is willing to defer and hang back to allow their partner to make plays in the offensive zone.
This creates all kinds of problems in both ends, from issues keeping the puck in at the blue-line in the offensive zone to bad pinches and reads and miscommunication allowing frequent breakaways and odd man rushes against.
Every game this team looks more and more like last year’s version.
That’s with basically half a roster of new faces.
I don’t want to hear about how there are four or five rookies dressed each night. Or how there’s a learning curve for the new guys.
If anything, several of the youngsters are proving that they are among the select few who even deserve the honor of wearing the Coyotes crest each night.
We’re fourteen games into the season. Nothing has changed from game one to game fourteen.
When the same problems keep recurring but the personnel has changed, it’s time to look at how you’re approaching the game.
So far, the Arizona Coyotes management and coaching staff haven’t appeared willing to take that step.
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