Until the third period, the Arizona Coyotes held their own against the league’s best team: the New York Rangers. Despite a third-period collapse, they tested the playoff-bound team, proving that they’re taking steps in their development. Plenty of individuals had great nights despite the score. Here are some takeaways from Saturday’s 8-5 loss against the Rangers.
Josh Doan and Logan Cooley Putting on a Show
Another game, another Josh Doan point. The young forward now has five points in three games thanks to another assist. He’s had a lot of good chances too to add to his two goals. The forward has provided a lot of energy and speed to the roster since his call-up. With his point against the Rangers, he becomes the fourth player in Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets history to have a three-game point streak to begin his career and the first to do so during the franchise’s time in Phoenix (from ‘Josh Doan sets Coyotes rookie mark in loss to NY Rangers’, AZCentral, 3/30/24).
His net-front presence is something no other Coyote does. It meshes him well with Matias Maccelli who loves to pass and Jack McBain who loves to be a physical presence. Maccelli ended up with two points including a goal that Doan assisted on.
Logan Cooley also had another fantastic game. He scored his 17th of the season and also assisted on Lawson Crouse’s goal. He’s turned his season around recently thanks to the continued success of his linemates Dylan Guenther and Crouse. He is only three goals away from 20 goals. His late-season resurgence could also result in a Calder Trophy nomination.
Related: Coyotes End Predators’ 18-Game Point Streak with 8-4 Win
The Coyotes are starting to shy away from the days when they could barely score goals. Now they enter the next stage of their development of trying to stop them. It’s great that the youth are scoring but to support them, the defense needs to be better.
“We’re getting a little bit more hungry,” head coach Andre Tourigny said. “We want more. We were there. Why not get the two points? We scored five goals against a really good team. There’s no reason for us not to win that game.”
While in the big picture, none of these games mean anything for the Coyotes as they are out of the playoff picture and they’re not bad enough to move higher in the draft lottery, it is big games for players to prove their worth and make an early case to make the lineup next season. It’s also big games to show the fans that the team is trending in the right direction. Doan and Cooley’s play have proven the team has offense but the Coyotes need better defense to help them out.
Nick Bjugstad Close to a Career Season
Nick Bjugstad has had an incredible season with the Coyotes. Now with seven points in his past six games and four goals in the past four games, he stands at 44 points. The two points he collected against the Rangers gave him enough to pass his 43 points in 2014-15 with the Florida Panthers for the second-best season points-wise in his career.
Bjugstad just needs five points to tie the 49-point season he had with the Panthers in 2017-18 which was the best season in his career. He’s been incredible centering the line of Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz and has been one of the best players on the team this season. With his play, he continues to show that he is still a fantastic forward in this league. If he finishes out the season still playing well with Keller and Schmaltz, Tourigny and general manager Bill Armstrong might keep him with the two to begin next season. He also might secure another contract with the team after next season.
On top of all of his success, Bjugstad became the team’s fourth 20-goal scorer. This is only the fourth time in franchise history in Arizona that there have been four or more 20-goal scorers. Michael Carcone and Cooley are both close to getting to 20 as well. If they do so, this Coyotes team will be the first in the franchise’s whole history that have six or more 20-goal scorers. The current record is five held by the 1995-96 Winnipeg Jets, the season before the team moved to Phoenix.
Glass Half Full, Glass Half Empty
There’s a lot of positives to take away from the loss. The Coyotes once again kept it close with one of the league’s best teams. If you take away the empty net goals, it was a one-goal game. They were also very disciplined, which is something that’s not normal for the Coyotes.
Individually, Crouse ended his scoreless drought which is something he has had on his back for a while. Despite his other linemates, Cooley and Guenther, thriving in terms of goal production, he has waited a while to get his 21st of the season.
“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t bothering me,” Crouse said. “I think it got to a point where I was putting so much pressure on myself that it was just game after game. It’s nice to finally get one but it doesn’t mean when we lose a game.”
The Coyotes also generated five goals, the third straight game where they’ve done so. It’s not easy to score in the NHL so it’s a positive sign that the team is doing so with ease.
On the flip side, the team had an awful third period. Coming into the period, the score was 3-3 until they allowed the Rangers to put up five more against them. The Coyotes couldn’t keep up only scoring two of their own.
The defense was questionable with Sean Durzi having a rare disappointing night. They allowed the Rangers’ second line to breeze right into the zone, often on the breakaway. Alexis Lafrenière was able to score a hat trick and collect five points. Meanwhile, Artemi Panarin had four.
Finally, in the end, the Rangers were able to neutralize a lot of the Coyotes’ offensive opportunities and get Jonathan Quick the 392nd win of his career, the most by an American-born goaltender in NHL history. It ends the mini-win streak the Coyotes were on, pushing them back to 3-2 so far in the extended homestand.
“We really liked our second period with our push-back and clawing back into it,” Crouse said. “The third period was frustrating. We go in there tied and allow them to score three which is no good. Against the top team in the league, you can’t you can’t do that. We had some good pushback in the second. That’s boldness. We have to be better than the third.”
The Coyotes played really well in the first and second periods. However, the meltdown in the third cost them the win. By the time the team started pulling itself together again, it was too late and the Rangers with two empty net goals sealed the deal.
“I think we worked really hard,” Tourigny said. “We generated enough offense. I think we played good defense but we had a major breakdown. We made a critical mistake. That’s frustrating even when there’s a lot of positives. I think the game was there for us.”
The Coyotes will return to play on Wednesday. Once again, they’ll be facing one of the best teams in the whole league: the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks are 45-20-8 and are in first place in the Pacific Division.
