The Arizona Coyotes are entering what will arguably be the toughest and most important stretch of this young 2023-24 season. Arizona is set to play the past three Stanley Cup champions: The Vegas Golden Knights, Tampa Bay Lightning and Colorado Avalanche. As of right now, the Coyotes are in the midst of a three-game losing streak, staring down the most adversity they have faced all season. So for better or for worse, this stretch of difficult games comes at a very important time for the team. Throughout the start of the season, the Coyotes game was sporadic looking like a potential playoff team some nights and looking similar to themselves from last season other nights. André Tourigny spoke following the Coyotes 6-5 loss to the Blues. Overall though, Arizona seemed to have made major strides and while there were some negatives in their style of play, the positives were overwhelmingly high. The Coyotes have a big opportunity to show they are not the same old losing team from the previous few seasons and that they are indeed progressing in their rebuild. The Golden Knights are currently the best team in the Western Conference while Tampa Bay and Colorado are firmly sitting in playoff positions. In order to become a playoff caliber hockey team, being able to defeat true contenders like these is crucial. If the Coyotes even are able to capture wins in two of the next three games their morale and confidence will be skyhigh and they will be able to forget about this current losing streak. However, it also has an opposite effect as if they lose the next three games, Arizona will fall into an even bigger hole and further out of the playoff picture. It’s a big week coming up for the Coyotes to say the least that may have some big implications either way you slice it.
