After a decent Canadian road trip which included a victory over the Vancouver Canucks, the Phoenix Coyotes returned home to the friendly confines of Jobing.com Arena for a three-game homestand that began against the playoff-contending Minnesota Wild.
Unfortunately for the Coyotes, uncharacteristic sloppy play in their own end led to two early Minnesota goals that the Desert Dogs were unable to overcome, and the Wild left Glendale with a 4-3 victory Monday night.
Goaltender Mike Smith was unable to hold the 'Yotes in the game as he gave up four goals in the first two periods before being replaced by backup Jason LaBarbera. The usually reliable Smith looked exhausted and frustrated after the Coyotes continued to give up odd-man rushes that led to three of the Minnesota goals and countless chance that Smith was able to keep out of the net.
The Coyotes started the game off placing solid pressure on the Wild and out-shooting them early in the game 9-1. Jason Zucker opened the scoring for the Wild only 1:35 into the game, re-directing a Matt Cullen shot past Smith to give the Wild a 1-0 lead.
Dany Heatle ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Michael Jenkins
Coyotes Lack of Scoring, Poor Defense Doom Chances Against Wild
March 1st, 2013 by Michael Jenkins Leave a reply »
Advertisement