Tough Loss

This afternoon the Coyotes played an exciting, but frustrating game. The match up of the two bottom feeding teams ended up a fast paced contest. Goaltender Tordjman had his first NHL start. He played a good enough game to give the Coyotes a chance to win, but still showed some nerves. On the other side of the ice Yan Danis played a very steady game. But in the end it seemed the same old story for the struggling Coyotes.
The defensive pairing of Jovo and Kalinin was absolutely atrocious all day in their own end. The pairing was responsible for two goals in this contest. One glaring mistake was a fast break by the Islanders where Tordjman directed a juicy rebound in front of an open net. This was not any help, but Jovanovski followed his man without the puck, and then decided to pull up and stare at the shooter as the rebound passed him to Josh Bailey, the young Islanders player. The Islanders were very quick on the fore check, and the Coyotes defenseman had no time to make smart decisions. The toughest thing for this team, seems to be escaping the defensive zone with a crisp connecting pass. Once again, this problem turned into a huge momentum shift for the Islanders. The Coyotes squad is too fragile to give up one goal, not to mention three in one period. The Coyotes had a strong first period, moving the puck well and battling through. Although they came out of the first period with the games first goal, failing on a 5 on 3 power play took the wind out of their sails. As soon as one fluke goal was let in, the floodgates opened to three goals.
Despite another loss, the Coyotes had a few positives that came out of the game. Tordjam was able to get out the butterflies of his first NHL game, and can now begin his career. The Coyotes have had no luck whatsoever this past month. Today’s game was no different. The Coyotes seemed to have a goal late in the third period, but the refs decided it was not a legal goal. Although this was defeating, they picked themselves up and got one more goal to cut the lead to one. Things will come around with the hard work they have put in these few weeks. The line of Upshall, Prucha and Lombardi seems to have some nice chemistry. Upshall has been impressive in his three games as a member of the Coyotes. The two goals are nice, but the fact that he has a lot of energy and speed has brought stability to whatever line he is on. Upshall also has shown a little grit to his game, and has a knack for sticking up for his teammates.
After hearing Don Maloney’s comments of preparing the cap for next season, you would think he has a few free agents in mind for July. Defense is a position Maloney will look to address, but I think this off season is a crucial one for the future of the organization. The crop of free agents are deep this year, and the Coyotes need to grab at least four players that can contribute regularly to the squad in 09-10. I will be following up the game summary with these four to six players necessary for a white out in 09-10.