The Nashville Predators have worked hard to find their game after early season stutters, but could the Arizona Coyotes be a team that trips them up?
Tonight the Nashville Predators take on the 6-9-1 Arizona Coyotes at Bridgestone Arena, and this is a game the Preds must be careful not to overlook.
The Coyotes are currently last in the central division and have lost their last three games. It might be tempting for the Predators to look beyond Arizona to Wednesday's game in Detroit against a spry and surprising Red Wings team or set their sights on Friday afternoon's rematch against the Colorado Avalanche. First, the Predators need to handle a Coyotes team with enough punch to walk out of Bridgestone with a win.
There are an alarming number of parallels between these two teams that could make tonight's game very interesting. Both teams play a game that focuses on owning the space in front of the net and pursuing the puck aggressively along the boards. Both teams have been able to squeak out wins against better teams with a little puck luck and good goaltending. Both teams have given up too many penalties and defensive zone turnovers that cost them.
While Nashville is 3-1-1 in their last five games, the Coyotes had their own string of wins earlier this month beating teams like Florida, Washington, Buffalo, and the New York Islanders. Three of those wins came at the beginning of the Yotes' fourteen game road trip, so the crowd at Bridgestone will need to make Broadway an inhospitable environment for a team who can win on the road. Arizona is a team that can beat the big guys on the road with a few key plays going in their favor.
Arizona has surprisingly good special teams that Nashville would do well not to underestimate. Their power play ranks 6th in the league with a 27.59% success rate and their 81.82% penalty kill won't be terribly forgiving against Nashville's man advantage that is only now starting to get off the ground.
Seeing Juuse Saros returning to his previous Vezina finalist form has been reassuring to Predators fans, but Karel Vejmelka has been solid in net for the Coyotes in his 12 starts. Despite going 5-5-1, Vejmelka has earned a .909 save percentage while allowing 3.23 goals against average. Former Predator Connor Ingram was picked up by Arizona off waivers and has started five games going 1-4 in his outings.
The confidence the Predators may have built with wins over the Rangers, Wild, and Islanders, and their ability to hang around against the Tampa Bay Lightning Saturday night could evaporate if they overlook the Coyotes. After clawing their way out of an early season slump, the momentum of their recent wins must be evident Monday night at puck drop.