The Arizona Coyotes are all set to go on a five-game road trip starting Thursday night. They will play the St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators, Dallas Stars, Columbus Blue Jackets and Winnipeg Jets. The Coyotes currently hold a 6-5-1 record which places them fourth in the Central Division and at the second wild card spot so this will be a critical road trip to maintain their solid status in the standings. Arizona played the Blues earlier in the season where they won 6-2 in commanding fashion. Now however, there are higher stakes as St. Louis is just two points behind the Coyotes with a game in hand. This matchup has an impact on changing the wild card and Central Division standings. The Predators are another one of those middle ground Western Conference teams that may be hunting for a wild card spot down the road. They currently have a 5-7 record and are not too far behind Arizona in the standings. André Tourigny spoke following the Coyotes 4-3 win over the Kraken. By far the toughest matchup for the Coyotes during the road trip will be against the Stars. Dallas is loaded from top to bottom consisting of talented players including Jason Robertson, Joe Pavelski, Miro Heiskanen and Jake Oettinger. The Stars currently are the second seed in the Central Division with a 7-3-1 record and are definitely one of the most talented teams in the West. Playing them will be a major challenge for the Coyotes. While the Blue Jackets are a team that has some solid individual talent including Johnny Gaudreau and rookie forward Adam Fantilli, the Coyotes are just a deeper team so it should be a game they are very capable of winning. Arizona ends their road trip against the Jets, a team they suffered a 5-3 loss to less than a week ago. Similar to their last matchup against Winnipeg, the Coyotes will have a grueling schedule beforehand especially now being on the road which will not make this game easy whatsoever. This road trip will be a major test for a Coyotes team that continues to show strides of improvement yet are still battling to get back into playoff relevancy.
