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Last night, the Coyotes went into San Jose and lost 2-0. Evgeni Nabokov was once again amazing against the Coyotes who he now has 6 career shutouts against. Phoenix put up a valiant effort and was in the game until the empty net goal at the end that sealed the deal.
One big reason the Coyotes were unable to defeat the Sharks was because of the failure of their power play to capitalize on chances. It has been the bane of the team, this time gong 0 for 7. The Coyotes had a chance to beat the best team in the NHL and had their goaltender keep their high powered offense limited to one goal. However, it was the offense, once again, that was the downfall of the Coyotes.
Not only did they lose the game but it seems the injuries are starting to build for the Coyotes who have avoided this problem this season. Steven Reinprecht suffered a shoulder injury and will be out 4 to 8 weeks. The Coyotes already have Peter Mueller banged up with a mild concussion and have called up Joel Perreault from San Antonio to fill the hole of Reinprecht.
One thing that was positive in this game was the physicality. The two teams combined for 67 hits, 31 of them from Phoenix. It is important for Phoenix to not be pushed around and last night, despite some big hits, they were able to stay with the San Jose Sharks physically and made it tough for them to get into the defensive zone. While Ilya Bryzgalov had to make some excellent saves, the defense as a whole was very good in giving the Sharks trouble in getting set up in the offensive zone.
The Coyotes lost this game because of their special teams. They couldn’t score on the power play and the game winning goal for the Sharks was scored with the Sharks on the power play. It all comes down to special teams.
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