While Matias Maccelli took a puck to the face which caused him to leave the Arizona Coyotes Thursday night matchup against the Columbus Blue Jackets, fans should not be concerned. According to PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan, Maccelli is going to be ‘Ok’ following this injury despite maybe losing a few teeth in the process. It’s unclear whether or not Maccelli will miss any sort of time but this report is an extremely positive sign. Maccelli has been having an excellent season up to this point tallying a total of two goals, nine assists and 11 points in 16 games. Logan Cooley spoke following the Coyotes 3-2 win over the Blue Jackets. Similar to last season, Maccelli’s passing and playmaking has just been off the charts as he continues to find his teammates while making it look pretty. The 23-year-old is the main puckhandler on the second unit of the power play and has found a nice spot on a line alongside Nick Bjugstad and Lawson Crouse. Recently, the Coyotes have been plagued with injuries. Travis Dermott went down prior to the start of the road trip, Juuso Välimäki got caught with a puck to the face on a very similar play to Maccelli and will be out for at least a couple of weeks and Barrett Hayton went down with an upper-body injury during yesterday's game which will require surgery and keep him sidelined for 4-6 weeks. This is why it is even more of a relief that Maccelli is ok since the team will need him to step up due to all these injuries. The Coyotes will close out their road trip on Saturday night against the Winnipeg Jets and could use all of Maccelli’s great attributes as they look to come home on a high note.
