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The two losses against tough but winnable opponents in Montreal and Ottawa has probably ended the Coyotes playoff chances. They are now 5 points behind 8th place Vancouver, who have played one game less than the Coyotes. Right now I think the goal should be to give guys like Enver Lisin some playing time to see how they fit in to next season's plans. Even calling up Al Montoya for a start or two would not be crazy, even though I still don't quite see what the plan is with him. He has played really well so far for San Antonio, only 5 goals allowed in 3 starts for a .943 save percentage.
Nice win last night against the Ducks. As much as I figured the playoff chances have slipped away, I heard Panger say last night that the next two out of three against Vancouver are must wins.
He's right. Vancouver sits in 8th place, 5 points ahead of the Coyotes. The Yotes need to win both games and play better than Vancouver and Nashville for the remainder of the season, to make the post season.
Here's what left. Two each against the Ducks, Sharks, Stars, Kings, Canucks, and Oilers. I guess the NHL wanted to finish out the schedule against the division. The final 8 are against division rivals -- one home and one away against each.
Here's what left. Two each against the Ducks, Sharks, Stars, Kings, Canucks, and Oilers. I guess the NHL wanted to finish out the schedule against the division. The final 8 are against division rivals -- one home and one away against each.
The Coyotes just won't say die. Thanks to a Bryzgalov 2-0 shutout of Vancouver, they are now three points behind the Canucks for that 8th playoffs spot. With the Oilers (twice), Canucks, and Kings upcoming, basically all four of those games are almost certainly must wins if the Coyotes want to keep the postseason dream alive.
Looking at the last 11 games I like next 4 games a lot, but they also scare the heck out of me. We play a poor Edmonton team twice and we travel to Vancouver which is good for this team since they love the road and then we finish is off against the Kings. If we get 4 out of 4, we have a good chance to have the 8th spot since we are trailing Vacouver by 3 points who currently hold the 8th spot. Nashville is 1 point up, but has played 1 more games.
I am bolding who we should beat and who I think we will beat.
Sat, Mar 15 Edmonton
Mon, Mar 17 @ Vancouver
Tue, Mar 18 @ Edmonton
Thu, Mar 20 LA Kings
Sat, Mar 22 Anaheim
Tue, Mar 25 San Jose Thu, Mar 27 @ LA Kings Sun, Mar 30 @ San Jose
Thu, Apr 3 Dallas Fri, Apr 4 @ Dallas Sun, Apr 6 @ Anaheim
8-3 gets us in!!!!!!!!!!!
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Great game last night. I think the number of must wins doesn't matter as much as the fact that it's a five team race for 6th, 7th, and 8th place. Minnesota is on a massive slide down the standings and may drop out of the playoffs if their trend continues. Here's the current standings for 6th, 7th' and 8th place:
Given that Phoenix is within 5 points of 6th place, they really only need to win 3 more games than two of the teams ahead of them in the standings. You have to hope the Yotes can get a little winning streak going while Vancouver and Minnesota keep tanking.
Last edited by Scott MS; March 14th, 2008 at 11:34 AM.
Also, every division is finishing the season playing their entire division twice. Calgary, Minnesota, and Vancouver have a whole bunch of games coming up against each other.
On the flip side, the Coyotes have to play 6 games against Dallas, San Jose, and Anaheim.
Although I'm a Canuck fan from Victoria, I'm a 'Yote second and rooting for either team. Don't count Edmonton easy though, they're playing loose and are acting as real spOILERS right now.
The Coyotes are taking the right approach and focusing on each game, one at time. They are certainly in the hunt, but they need to win as many games as possible to keep their chances at making the playoffs.
The Northwest Division may hold their fate. With Edmonton coming on strong lately and Colorado taken the top spot in the division, each of these teams will finish with 8 games against the other division teams. Every one those games will be critical to determining who will make the playoffs. Surely, one or two of the Northwest Division teams will get beaten down in these final 8 games. Who will it be?
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