Martin Hanzal

Howl-o-Ween Game Day: Los Angeles Kings @ Phoenix Coyotes

October 29, 2011

Yesterday the Phoenix Coyotes acquired centre Cal O’Reilly from the Nashville Predators for a fourth-round pick in 2012. The trade is conditional upon him passing a physical, but it's likely he will make his debut Wednesday as the Coyotes face the Avalanche.

The trade comes in the middle of lots of buzz surrounding the status of another centre, Kyle Turris, and his prolonged holdout that Phoenix general manager Don Maloney has stated publicly will not end in a trade. Though the hopeful among Coyotes' camp are thinking maybe this trade will cause some movement in that department.

The Los Angeles Kings are back at Jobing.com Arena tonight, after hav...

Game Day: Dallas Stars @ Phoenix Coyotes

October 25, 2011

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The Coyotes will look to play a full, consistent 60 minutes tonight to avoid the same fate as their last two meetings against the Stars. Loui Eriksson scored with 28 seconds remaining on October 10th to send the game into overtime and ultimately procure his team two points. Jamie Benn was a similar culprit on March 1st, except he scored with 4.8 seconds left in the game. The last five matchups between these two teams have been decided by one goal. This one gets underway at 7 p.m. Arizona time at Jobing.com Arena.

Photo: PhoenixCoyotes.com

The Stars are presently first in the Western Conference and are off to ...

Game Day: Chicago Blackhawks @ Phoenix Coyotes

October 18, 2011

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The Coyotes saved very little visible emotion for their former selves on Saturday, shelling the Jets' opposition with 34 shots compared to only 19 in return on their way to a 4-1 win. Now the 2-1-0-1 'Yotes face off against the 2-1-0-1 Blackhawks, who are coming off a shootout loss against the Boston Bruins. Half of the four matchups between Phoenix and Chicago last year went to a shootout.

While their records through the first four games are identical, their power plays are not. Chicago even allowed a shorthanded goal on Saturday, and their record sits at 11.8% compared to the Coyotes' 23.8%. Last year, the Blackhawks went for a combin...

Game Day: Phoenix Coyotes @ Nashville Predators

October 13, 2011

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In what will be their last game before the much-awaited home opener against the Winnipeg Jets, the Phoenix Coyotes will first look to rebound from a 2-1 shootout loss in Dallas that saw them open the scoring in the third period before Loui Eriksson tied things up with under 30 seconds remaining in regulation. Despite this, the Coyotes looked much stronger than their first outing against San Jose and managed to outshoot their opponents 41-25.

Nashville won't be an easy opponent, as the young but feisty Predators remain undefeated thanks to their goaltender, Pekka Rinne, who has allowed but four goals in both his team's wins. Their p...

Game Day: Phoenix Coyotes @ Dallas Stars

October 10, 2011

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The Phoenix Coyotes' 6-3 opening night loss at the HP Pavilion on Saturday night, complete with several inopportune penalties and a frightening number of defensive breakdowns, will surely be something they'll want to bounce back from this afternoon as the puck drops at 5 p.m. Dallas time. Shane Doan, celebrating his 35th birthday today, scored two power play goals and led his team with 6 of 29 shots on goal. On the other end of the ice, new Phoenix goaltender Mike Smith saw a whopping 52 shots fired in his direction. The Coyotes haven't allowed that many since early 1997.

Phoenix has won their last two contests in Dallas ...

Game Day: Phoenix Coyotes @ San Jose Sharks

October 8, 2011

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The fifteenth season of the Phoenix Coyotes is finally set to kick off tonight as they host the San Jose Sharks at 7:30 p.m. PST. As per the usual recipe, many questions surrounding the franchise continue to bubble up to the surface, the most prevalent of which was the focus of the Coyotes’ new ad campaign launched this week. On a team scale, league-wide “experts” continue to place them near the bottom of the Western Conference standings, or more specifically, the “not quite as bad as those Oilers but close enough” position of 14th. Bear in mind that they also did this last year (actual position: 6th) and th...