The Arizona Coyotes missed the playoffs like the New York Rangers. For a team constantly in rebuild mold, it was the acquisition of veteran Phil Kessel that could mean a trip to the playoffs.
The Arizona Coyotes finished in fourth place in the Pacific Division, only four points out of the last wild card spot in the Western Conference. The Coyotes feature three former New York Rangers on their roster and they are hoping that they can make the leap into the postseason.
The Coyotes finished the season with a record of 39-35-8, good for 86 points. The Colorado Avalanche made the last wild card spot with 90 points, so the Coyotes came very close. They stumbled to a 3-5-3 finish and that cost them a playoff spot.
The Coyotes had the sixth best goals against average in the league, allowing only 223 goals. That was offset by the fifth worst offense in the league as they scored only 213 goals, 14 goals from the worst total in the NHL.
The Yotes got off the an absolutely horrible start that they struggled to overcome the rest of the season. They got off to a 1-4 start and scored the grand total of four goals in those five games that included three shutouts.
Arizona defined the word “streaky” with winning streaks of five and six games and two five game losing streaks. They had no special advantage in extra time, going 5-5 in overtime and 4-3 in shootouts.
Individually, 20-year old Clayton Keller was their leading scorer with 47 points and no Coyote scored more than 19 goals. Alex Galchenyuk was one of the 19 goal scorers along with Brad Richardson and he was dealt to Pittsburgh in the Kessel deal.
Not only is Kessel expected to score more than Galchenyuk, the trade got the young Russian out of Arizona before fans could focus on the fact that Max Domi, the guy he was traded for, scored 28 goals and 72 points for the Montreal Canadiens.
Those three former Rangers are Derek Stepan, Antti Raanta and Michael Grabner and they are all key pieces of the Arizona puzzle.
Expectations are high in Arizona based on the revamped lineup and the weakness of the Pacific Division. They’ve missed the playoffs seven straight years and making the postseason is still a question mark.
Against the Rangers
Arizona won both of their games against the Rangers last season. In their first match at the Garden on December 14, it took overtime for them to do it as they came from behind to beat the Blueshirts, It ended a nine game losing streak to the Rangers going back to the 2013-14 season. The Rangers had three power play goals and a three goal lead with half the game left when the Coyotes came charging back. Of course, it was Derek Stepan who scored the game winner with 32 seconds left in the overtime.
A month later the Coyotes spanked the Rangers 5-0 in Phoenix. Henrik Lundqvist was pulled at the 16 minute mark of the second period after giving up five goals on 32 shots. It was one of the Rangers’ worst efforts of the season.