Yotes Notes: Thanksgiving Week & Road Trip Wrap

Happy Thanksgiving week, Coyotes fans!

The Arizona Coyotes returned home from a five-game, 11-day road trip after earning five of a possible 10 points (2-2-1), with wins over the Nashville Predators and Columbus Blue Jackets, and an overtime loss against the Central Division-leading Dallas Stars.

The Desert Dogs dropped their first game back in The Valley to the L.A. Kings on Monday, but will still play six of their next seven games at home as they look to stay right in the thick of the Central Division race.

Forward Lawson Crouse has continued his hot month, registering all eight of his goals in November which has put him into the team lead. 

The rest of the week is a light one for the Coyotes, who host the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday before traveling to Vegas on Saturday. Their schedule picks up again next week, though, as Arizona opens up a five-game homestand next Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Happy Thanksgiving to the Pack, let’s get on with the show!

The Week in Review 

Tuesday, Nov. 14 | at Dallas | 4-3 Loss (OT)
STATS | THE WRAP

The Coyotes earned a point against the first-place Stars, using two third-period goals from Jason Zucker and Crouse before Tyler Seguin’s late goal forced overtime. Matt Duchene scored the game-winner 42 seconds into the extra frame, ending the game and sending Arizona to Columbus with an overtime loss.

Clayton Keller scored the Coyotes’ other goal of the game, and Karel Vejmelka made 32 saves in the loss.

Tuesday, Nov. 14 | at Columbus | 3-2 Win
STATS | THE WRAP

Last Tuesday’s win in Columbus marked the third straight game earning at least one point, and the Coyotes scored two third-period goals in 28 seconds to rally bast the Blue Jackets. Barrett Hayton, Logan Cooley, and Crouse scored for Arizona, which displayed incredible resilience after losing Barrett Hayton and Matias Maccelli to injuries in the second period.

Connor Ingram stopped 39 of 41 shots to earn a win in his fifth straight start, and Arizona’s power play remained hot by scoring a goal with the man advantage for its seventh straight game.

Saturday, Nov. 18 | at Winnipeg | 5-2 Loss
STATS | THE WRAP

Matias Maccelli and Matt Dumba scored, but the Jets pulled away with three unanswered goals – including a late empty-netter – to earn the 5-2 win. The game marked the final contest in Arizona’s lengthy road trip.

The Jets and Coyotes meet twice more this season – on Jan. 7 at Mullett Arena and Feb. 25 at Canada Life Centre.

Monday, Nov. 20 | vs. Los Angeles | 4-1 Loss
STATS | THE WRAP

The Coyotes returned home to host the Los Angeles Kings on Monday, and the red-hot Kings stayed perfect on the road with a 4-1 win. Crouse scored the lone goal for the Coyotes, who dropped two straight for the first time since Oct. 24 and Oct. 27 – those losses were also against the Kings.

L.A. swept the season series 3-0.

The Coyotes’ penalty kill was perfect again, and Arizona has not allowed a power-play goal in three games, going a perfect 8-for-8 since Nov. 16.

Down on the Farm

Tucson Roadrunners (7-5-0-1, 7th Place, Pacific Division)
-    0-1-0-1 Last Week
-    Nov. 17: vs. Coachella Valley Firebirds, 3-2 Loss (shootout)
-    Nov. 18: vs. Coachella Valley Firebirds, 5-4 Loss

Dylan Guenther stayed hot with the Roadrunners, notching a pair of goals over the weekend to bring his team-leading points total to 13 in as many games. The 20-year-old now has eight points, including three goals, over his last six games, and is on pace to be a point-per-game player in the AHL.

Team Leaders
•    Points: Guenther (7)
•    Goals: Doan, Guenther (5)
•    Assists: Guenther (8)
•    GAA: Villalta (2.40)
•    SV%: Villalta (.924)

The Sweet Spot

Nov. 16: Logan Cooley records a power-play goal with a seeing-eye shot in the Coyotes’ win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Bear's Necessities

"That was a tough one. Tough one schedule-wise, travel-wise, fatigue-wise, emotional-wise. The Blue Jackets started strong, they attacked us with their rush, which we knew, and we came back in the game. That was a good, resilient game for us." – André Tourigny on the Coyotes’ win over the Columbus Blue Jackets

What to Watch For

Wednesday, Nov. 22 vs. vs. St. Louis Blues, 7 pm MST
The Coyotes and Blues face off for the third time this season, and each team has one meeting to this point. Both of the remaining games will take place at Mullett Arena – both on Wednesday, and again on Dec. 2.

The Blues most recently won 3-1 at Anaheim, and Wednesday’s game marks the fourth-and-final game in their current road trip. They lost the first two games by identical 5-1 scores, first against the San Jose Sharks and then vs. the Kings.

St. Louis is led by Robert Thomas’ 17 points, but both he and Pavel Buchnevich are tied for the team lead with six goals apiece. Between the pipes, Joel Hofer has started both games against the Coyotes this season, and he is   4-2-0 with a 2.79 goals-against average and .914 save percentage. Jordan Binnington, meanwhile, is 5-5-1 with a 2.47 GAA and .922 SV%.

The Blues score an average of 2.71 goals each game, which ranks 26th in the league, but they also only allow the same amount, which is the seventh-fewest in the league. Their power play has improved slightly since facing the Coyotes earlier this season, but still ranks 31st with a 7.69 percent success rate.

TV: Scripps Sports (Antenna: 61.1 Phoenix, 9.2 Tucson | Cable: DirecTV 61, Dish 61, Cox 95 Phoenix, Cox 85/Comcast 1179 Tucson) | Radio: KTAR News 92.3 FM

Saturday, Nov. 25 at Vegas Golden Knights, 8 pm MST
Vegas started the season incredibly strong, posting an 11-0-1 record, but the Golden Knights have slumped slightly over the past few weeks, going 2-4-1 since. They most recently have dropped two straight (0-1-1), and play in Dallas on Wednesday before hosting the Coyotes this Saturday.

The game marks the first of three matchups between the two teams, with the final two meetings on Feb. 8 and April 5 at Mullett Arena.

The defending Stanley Cup champions lead the Pacific Division by one point at the time of posting, and have six players with 10-or more points, including William Karlsson (20), Jack Eichel (19), Mark Stone (18), and Shea Theodore (18). Adin Hill and Logan Thompson have split time in net this season, with the former going 8-2-1 with a 2.07 GAA and .929 SV%, while the latter is 5-2-1 with a 2.48 GAA and .920 SV%.

The Golden Knights don’t allow many goals, as their 2.47 goals-allowed per game is fourth-best in the league. They also boast a top-10 power play (23.08) and penalty kill (84.75).

TV: Scripps Sports (Antenna: 61.1 Phoenix, 9.2 Tucson | Cable: DirecTV 61, Dish 61, Cox 95 Phoenix, Cox 85/Comcast 1179 Tucson) | Radio: ESPN 620