Florida Panthers

On Saturday, the Phoenix Coyotes played their one and only game of the season against the struggling Florida Panthers. From the research I’ve done, and from the people I’ve talked to, the Panthers were not only suffering from key injuries to their lineup but they have not been getting solid goaltending from veteran Tomas Vokoun. In addition, I learned from a source that the Panthers simply do not have the depth and talent to compete with the Coyotes roster even when healthy. This source pretty much stated that their top line would be a second or third line on most other teams. Even with all these factors in the game, at the end of regulation the score was tied 1-1 and a shootout eventually was forced.

So what happened?

As you have probably read by now, the main storyline from the game was the Panthers backup goaltender Scott Clemmensen shutting down the Coyotes offensive attack with a 40 save performance.

The thing you didn’t read was that of all the shots Clemmensen faced, only a small amount of them were difficult or ones that he couldn’t see (one of the shots Clemmensen couldn’t see was the Coyotes only regulation goal). The majority of the shots he faced during the game were ones that he could see and easily stop. In addition, Clemmensen frequently let out HUGE rebounds on shots all game long. For whatever reason, the Coyotes could not recognize or capitalize on these mistakes in Clemmensen’s game.

Overall, I wasn’t too impressed with Clemmensen as he wasn’t challenged with very difficult shots all night long. On the flip side, I wasn’t too impressed with the Coyotes not challenging Clemmensen more and taking advantage of the HUGE rebounds he was giving up.

The game was partially lost in the first period. The Coyotes were doing everything right in the first period but finishing. The Coyotes had the Panthers playing poor defensive hockey as well as showing a complete lack of confidence in their offensive zone. The Coyotes, for whatever reason, could not capitalize on the numerous mental errors and holes in the Panthers game. There simply weren’t enough bodies at the net in the first when the Coyotes had the advantage.

I know…could-a…should-a…would-a…didn’t.

The second period was the other ‘part’ where the Phoenix Coyotes lost the game.

The Coyotes poor performance in the second period goes beyond the X’s and O’s. The Coyotes lacked the killer instinct in the second period to continue the domination they displayed in the first. Because the Coyotes could not take control, and appeared to play down to the level of their opponents, they allowed the Panthers to get back into the game and dictate the pace of the game.

When the Coyotes are not playing their games, they are normally prone to mistakes which we saw leading up to the Panthers only goal during regulation.

I will give credit to the Panthers for growing a pair of cohones from the second period to the final goal of the shootout. The Panthers went toe to toe with the Coyotes starting in the second period and didn’t cave in or give up like they have in previous games on this western US road trip.

This game started in the first as a game that the Coyotes could have easily won. However, this game ended up being one they almost lost in the latter parts of the game.

Sure, there were many positive things for the Coyotes to take away from this game. However, the Coyotes lack of killer instinct was absent on the ice for most of the game. To me, that was the difference in the game.

Anaheim Ducks

The second game of the back to back games was a game where the Coyotes needed to make a statement….in a big way. The Ducks big line of Getzlaf/Ryan/Perry scored a whopping 17 points against the Coyotes in just two games the two teams have played against each other this season.

The Ducks problems this season stem from two things 1) the lack of defensive zone talent across the board and 2) the inability for Ducks Jonas Hiller to stop five hole (through the legs) shots.

To compensate for this the Ducks rely on their extremely talented offensive zone talent to pick up the slack in five on five situations as well as on the Power Play.

One of the ways for the Ducks to generate offense is to draw penalties from the other team by sometimes cheap and dirty tactics to get under the skins of their opponents.

The way to negate the Ducks game plan of generating offense is for teams like the Coyotes not to take penalties. Leading up to the game with the Ducks, this was a problem for the Coyotes with seasoned veterans taking undisciplined and unnecessary penalties at the worst possible times.

Well the Coyotes, for the most part, stayed out of the penalty box and played very disciplined hockey for 60 minutes en route to a 3-0 victory in Anaheim.

Credit goes to the Coyotes playing disciplined hockey and staying out of the penalty box along with their defensive zone play. The Coyotes in their defensive zone not only shut down the Ducks top line of Getzlaf/Ryan/Perry but made them pay with some nasty hits in the process.

You also have to give credit to the entire Coyotes roster for coming out in back to back games and playing a great overall game in Anaheim not 24 hours after playing at home against the Panthers.

On the flip side of the proverbial coin, a cause for concern moving forward is that the Coyotes were only able to convert on one of eight power play opportunities during the game. The Ducks penalty kill units hardly allowed the Coyotes to establish their offensive zone during power play time.

In addition, another main concern moving forward has to be Bryzgalov’s ice time. The Coyotes are heading into what has to be their most important stretch of games this season for the remainder of the month. Not only will these games in December be an indicator of where this team is going and what they’re made of but it will be an indicator of how the team may pace Bryzgalov;s starts for the rest of the season. If Bryzgalov plays the most, if not all of the games in December, you have to wonder if he’s going to have anything left at the end of the season and possibly the playoffs.