Coyotes hit the road to battle Boedker, Avalanche
Seven days after being traded away from the Arizona Coyotes, Mikkel Boedker will do battle against his former teammates as a member of the Colorado Avalanche.
Colorado acquired Boedker last week to help in its push for a Western Conference playoff berth, but the early returns have not been what the Avalanche had hoped.
Boedker has a goal and an assist in three games for Colorado, but the Avalanche (33-30-4) have lost two of those three games to fall into ninth place in the West -- two points behind Minnesota. The Avalanche are coming off a 5-2 loss on Saturday night to Nashville in which they gave up four unanswered goals in the third period. They've been outscored 11-1 in the third period of their last four games -- losing three.
"I thought we played really well for 40 minutes, again," coach Patrick Roy said. "Our third periods need to be better. We need to be smarter in the third period. We have to learn to play those situations much better."
Goaltender Semyon Varlamov has permitted 11 goals over his past three starts and been pulled in two of his last five.
The Coyotes' return in the Boedker deal was forward Alex Tanguay and a pair of junior prospects. Tanguay had a major impact in his Arizona debut on Saturday, tallying two goals and an assist in the Coyotes' 5-1 victory over Florida, which snapped a seven-game losing streak.
"I am just trying to get my legs underneath me and play better and better," Tanguay said. "I know I am not going to score every game, but I want to contribute and help this team win some games until the end of the year."
The Coyotes (28-31-6) had only eight goals in their previous six games before breaking out against the Panthers. The line of Tanguay, Antoine Vermette and Anthony Duclair was responsible for three of the five goals.
"We had a good mix out there. We had a couple of good practices," said Vermette, who matched a career high with four points. "You want to translate that into a game. (Tanguay's) a smart guy. He's been through a lot, a lot of experience. He won a Cup also. He's a good passer, smart player."
Tanguay drew into the lineup with Max Domi serving a one-game suspension for instigating a fight near the end of Thursday's 5-1 loss to Anaheim.
Louis Domingue provided a further boost with 32 saves. The rookie had a 4.04 goals-against average in losing his six prior starts.
Shane Doan had a power play goal -- his team-leading 24th -- but the Coyotes are just 3 of 29 on the power play over the last eight games. Colorado has killed off 26 of 27 penalties over its last nine games.
Monday's game is the first in a four-game road trip for the Coyotes, who have lost eight in a row away from home. They won in their previous visit to the Pepsi Center, a 2-1 overtime victory on Dec. 27 in which Boedker scored the winning goal. They also beat the Avalanche in Glendale, 4-2, on Nov. 5.
