Detroit Red Wings head to the desert for some Coyote hunting

The Detroit Red Wings open a quick two-game road trip out in the desert of Arizona taking on the red hot Coyotes. It’s a tale of two trends, the Coyotes have won five straight games while the Wings have lost six in a row.

The Detroit Red Wings haven’t had much luck of late, and they haven’t helped themselves much. The team is coming off one of the worst, uninspiring losses I’ve seen in my life. Although the team has lost similarly in the past, I can’t say that I’ve seen this franchise essentially flat out quit during a game.

Tuesday is a game to forget, and after this, we won’t mention it anymore, but this is the first game back since we hope the “bag skate” the team took part during practice this week got through to the players.

Howard will get the nod tonight. He has not been good at all over his last three starts. He’s been pulled in three consecutive starts. I can’t say I ever remember that happening to any goaltender before. He claims he’s fixed the issues by studying film and noticing his angles have been off. He’s claimed when your perspective is off in a league like this where the players are able to make perfect shots they make you pay the price.

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So tonight will be a big game for the Detroit Red Wings. Was head coach Jeff Blashill able to send a message? Will he be able to get his club to compete against the streaking Coyotes? The players need to look themselves in the mirror and understand that pitiful effort Tuesday cannot happen again.

Injuries: Thomas Vanek & Trevor Daley are both expected to miss tonight’s game due to injury. Anthony Mantha is also likely to be out with the flu. Vanek is battling a hip flexor while Daley is dealing with a bad back.

The Coyotes also are dealing with a few injuries. Derek Stepan is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Kyle Capobianco, Nick Schmaltz, Jason Demers and starting goaltender Anti Raanta are also all on IR with lower-body injuries. Speedy forward Michael Grabner is dealing with an eye injury and also won’t participate in tonight’s game.

Special Teams: The Detroit Red Wings rank 25th in the NHL with a 16% conversion rate on the power-play. That unit needs to find a way to produce. They will be missing three key puck handlers, so I don’t expect a miracle resurgence. With Gustav Nyquist, a staple on the PP no longer with the team and Anthony Mantha an accurate shooter ill, I expect this unit to continue to struggle. Vanek also is a reliable puck handler with the man advantage, and he is supposed to be absent.

The Wings penalty kill is ranked 27th in the league only killing off 77% of their penalties. The number doesn’t look THAT bad, but the issue is the Wings take the 20th most penalties on average per game. It makes sense if you find yourself always chasing rather than possessing the puck. The Detroit Red Wings need to focus on controlling the puck more often and limiting turnovers.

The Arizona Coyotes own the best penalty killing unit in the NHL. They are operating at a whopping 86% success rate. That along with the absent Wings players don’t bode well for success tonight. The Coyotes power-play is ranked 21st converting at 17.6%, so not much better than the Wings.

Probable Goaltenders: Jimmy Howard posts a 17-17-5 record with a 2.98 GAA/ 0.907SV%. | Darcy Kuemper owns a 19-14-5 record with a 2.58 GAA/0.917SV%.

Location: Gila River Arena, Glendale, AZ

Time: 8:00 PM

Oddshark Odds: Arizona -180

Arizona Coyotes FanSided Blog: Howlin Hockey

Detroit Red Wings projected lineup:

Darren Helm – Dylan Larkin (A) – Justin Abdelkader (A)

Tyler Bertuzzi – Andreas Athanasiou – Filip Zadina

Luke Glendening – Frans Nielsen (A) – Michael Rasmussen

Christoffer Ehn – Jacob de La Rose – Luke Witkowski

Niklas Kronwall (A) – Mike Green

Danny DeKeyser – Filip Hronek

Jonathan Ericsson – Madison Bowey

The Arizona Coyotes projected lineup:

Alex Galchenyuk – Nick Cousins – Clayton Keller

Lawson Crouse – Christian Dvorak– Josh Archibald

Mario Kempe – Brad Richardson – Christian Fischer

Richard Panik – Vinnie Hinostroza – Connor Garland

Oliver Ekman-Larsson (C) – Niklas Hjalmarsson (A)

Jakob Chychrun – Alex Goligoski

Jordan Oesterle – Ilya Lyubuskin

Next. Getting to know Madison Bowey. dark

Prediction: With all the injuries and missing parts in the Detroit Red Wings lineup and how hot the Coyotes have been of late I don’t see the Wings being able to leave Zona victorious. The Coyote PK will hunt the Wings PP and limit their young group’s scoring chances. This game will end 5-2 including an empty net goal in favor of Arizona.

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