The Arizona Coyotes lost 4-1 to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night as they were unable to overcome their lack of discipline down the stretch. Going into this game the Coyotes were riding high, coming off of two consecutive victories against the Colorado Avalanche and Anaheim Ducks. 20240102_Tourigny_Postgame_1 Through the first two periods, the Coyotes overall played a solid brand of hockey. They limited the Panthers offensive chances while generating good possession and zone time. However, Arizona just couldn’t create high quality chances and after the first 40 minutes of play, the Coyotes found themselves down 1-0. Early on in the third period, Alexander Kerfoot scored a shorthanded goal which seemed like a momentum shifter. Unfortunately it would end up going all downhill from there. The cause for the Coyotes downfall was penalties and just playing an undisciplined game. Troy Stecher's penalty led to a Panthers power play goal. When Arizona had an uphill battle to climb, trailing 3-1, Liam O’Brien committed a costly high-sticking penalty which sucked the life out of this team even more so. Throughout the game, the Coyotes had a total of nine penalties, including two game misconducts from Jason Zucker and O’Brien. The Panthers tough and physical style is unique. This clearly frustrated the Coyotes and caused them to play reckless and emotional. During some stretches at the beginning of the season, Arizona had problems staying out of the penalty box at times and it now seems to have resurfaced. It’s critical when the Coyotes are down not to resort to being undisciplined. They can play with physicality without being careless, something the team has been great at doing as of late. The Panthers are a tough team to go up against though and coach André Tourigny did mention that postgame, so there is no shame in losing a game against this kind of team. Arizona will have a chance to regroup before playing the New York Islanders at Mullett Arena on Thursday night.
