Arizona Coyotes: Three Thoughts From Letdown Against Calgary
After a very strong first period, the Arizona Coyotes let off the gas and allowed the Calgary Flames to coast to victory.
Poor starts have been a recurring theme for the Arizona Coyotes.
I don’t mean necessarily poor on the scoreboard. There have been a decent number of games where Arizona has scored first.
Whether they score first or not, however, they tend to spend much of each first period in their own zone.
Last night was an exception. Last night was a revelation, at least for 20 minutes.
The Yotes mustered an aggressive, creative mentality and took it to the Calgary Flames for the majority of the first period of play.
When they took the ice for the second period, the team had turned back into a pumpkin.
Power(less) Play
Perimeter pass, perimeter pass, perimeter pass, hold the puck, perimeter pass, shot through traffic.
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That’s the Coyotes’ power play plan, for better or worse, or so it appears.
For reasons unknown to anyone who has followed this team in 2016, players like Tobias Rieder and Shane Doan are still getting way more power play time than they deserve.
To be frank, even 30 seconds is more time than either deserves.
Rieder is a speedster who is dynamite on the penalty kill. He has no finish, however, and he’s not exactly delivering dimes to setup his teammates.
Doan is a different matter altogether.
In his heyday, he was a mainstay on the man advantage. Now, though? Nothing he’s shown this season warrants his inclusion. That’s hard for some fans to admit or voice about the captain, but the bottom line is he’s not producing and it’s not working.
While these guys get power play time, players like Anthony Duclair, Brendan Perlini, and Jamie McGinn struggle to get an ample amount.
The first two players are tailor made to create offense on the power play. Duke has struggled much like Doan, but his ability to create warrants his inclusion…and perhaps it could jump start him.
McGinn is an acceptable replacement for Shane Doan at his advanced age.
With nearly two minutes of a 5-on-3 last night, the Arizona Coyotes didn’t even produce a shot on goal.
The personnel deployed and the lack of a plan is a big reason why.
The Art of the Stretch Pass
Watch any Arizona Coyotes game and count the stretch passes.
Not the useful ones like we saw the Flames execute at times, which sprung a player down the boards. Nope.
The kind where you try to hit a criss-crossing winger through about three sticks and traffic.
It works rarely but is attempted often, and further compounds the Yotes’ possession woes.
Another fan favorite that reared it’s head a couple of times last night is the long icing.
Several times per game, Coyotes defenders have a clear path to skate the puck out of their own zone or at least chip it forward, and instead they dump it the length of the ice.
Monday against the Flames was no different and the continued reliance on these low percentage plays is a big part of the team’s on-ice failures.
Mike Smith
He gave up three goals last night, but can we take another moment to appreciate this guy?
Very few Coyotes have played as hard as Mike Smith. None have been as consistent.
Smith has a .928 save percentage this season. He put up a .930 in 2011-12. That’s pretty good.
There’s also this:
Stunning graphic on Mike Smith. pic.twitter.com/AqLEaPqKBK
— Roger Millions (@RogMillions) December 20, 2016
People can debate the merit of Corsi all they want.
The simple fact of the matter is that no matter how good your goaltender is, if you continually spend more time in your own end than you do in the opponents, you’re likely to have a bad time.
Mike Smith has been great this season.
The Arizona Coyotes? Not so much.
