The Coyotes continually monitor the Western Conference standings, but they won’t be able to pry away points from the teams they’re contending with for the next two weeks.
Thursday’s meeting with the visiting New York Islanders was the first of six consecutive games against the Eastern Conference. Four of those games are on the road.
“I don’t mind getting on the road a week before Christmas, take the distractions away,” coach Dave Tippett said.
The Coyotes went 3-2 on their last East road swing, which started with a stop in San Jose. There is at least some benefit in playing out-of-conference games. It removes the fear of giving up the loser point in overtime or shootout results.
“When you play teams out of your conference, that’s an opportunity to get points that other teams can’t get,” Tippett said.
Bye, bye bug
Goalie Mike Smith was back between the pipes against the Islanders after missing Tuesday’s game in Colorado with the flu.
“He’s back to 100 percent health he said,” Tippett said.
Smith wasn’t even on the bench against the Avalanche but was the backup for the night. If he wasn’t able to do that, the Coyotes had a preliminary plan to use assistant coach Newell Brown’s son, Adam, as an emergency backup.
Adam Brown plays goalie for the Colorado Eagles in the East Coast Hockey League.
“That happened a few years ago in New York when we grabbed an assistant coach of a college team (Tom Fenton) and put him on the bench,” Tippett said. “Sometimes you have to take drastic measures in drastic times. We had that kind of in the back of our mind, but it didn’t work out.”
On the mend
Captain Shane Doan (illness) stopped by the Ice Den in Scottsdale briefly Thursday morning but still isn’t expected back on the ice any time soon.
“Hopefully he’s making some progress,” Tippett said. “We’ll see where he gets by the end of the week whether he goes on that trip next week.”
Meanwhile, defenseman Derek Morris could rejoin the team today after leaving a week ago to attend to a family matter.
“Hopefully he’ll be at practice,” Tippett said.
With the Coyotes roster currently at 23, a corresponding roster move would have to be made to add Morris, who didn’t count against the limit while he was away. Doan is still on the active roster.
“When you’re missing key guys like that, the other guys in the room step up and your leadership in the room doesn’t dip at all and you can continue to play well,” Tippett said.
Fourth-line production
Most fourth lines are responsible for delivering energy, and the Coyotes’ unit certainly is tasked with doing that. But that isn’t the only priority on the line’s to-do list.
Center Jeff Halpern is the faceoff specialist of the group, winger Jordan Szwarz is earning penalty-kill time and winger Paul Bissonnette adds a physical presence.
It’s a bonus, though, when they chip in a goal — like they did Tuesday against the Avalanche with Szwarz tapping in a rebound from a Halpern shot off a Bissonnette pass.
“We have been getting some scoring chances of late and just haven’t been burying them,” Szwarz said. “The other night in Colorado it was nice to finally get one.”
Thursday’s meeting with the visiting New York Islanders was the first of six consecutive games against the Eastern Conference. Four of those games are on the road.
“I don’t mind getting on the road a week before Christmas, take the distractions away,” coach Dave Tippett said.
The Coyotes went 3-2 on their last East road swing, which started with a stop in San Jose. There is at least some benefit in playing out-of-conference games. It removes the fear of giving up the loser point in overtime or shootout results.
“When you play teams out of your conference, that’s an opportunity to get points that other teams can’t get,” Tippett said.
Bye, bye bug
Goalie Mike Smith was back between the pipes against the Islanders after missing Tuesday’s game in Colorado with the flu.
“He’s back to 100 percent health he said,” Tippett said.
Smith wasn’t even on the bench against the Avalanche but was the backup for the night. If he wasn’t able to do that, the Coyotes had a preliminary plan to use assistant coach Newell Brown’s son, Adam, as an emergency backup.
Adam Brown plays goalie for the Colorado Eagles in the East Coast Hockey League.
“That happened a few years ago in New York when we grabbed an assistant coach of a college team (Tom Fenton) and put him on the bench,” Tippett said. “Sometimes you have to take drastic measures in drastic times. We had that kind of in the back of our mind, but it didn’t work out.”
On the mend
Captain Shane Doan (illness) stopped by the Ice Den in Scottsdale briefly Thursday morning but still isn’t expected back on the ice any time soon.
“Hopefully he’s making some progress,” Tippett said. “We’ll see where he gets by the end of the week whether he goes on that trip next week.”
Meanwhile, defenseman Derek Morris could rejoin the team today after leaving a week ago to attend to a family matter.
“Hopefully he’ll be at practice,” Tippett said.
With the Coyotes roster currently at 23, a corresponding roster move would have to be made to add Morris, who didn’t count against the limit while he was away. Doan is still on the active roster.
“When you’re missing key guys like that, the other guys in the room step up and your leadership in the room doesn’t dip at all and you can continue to play well,” Tippett said.
Fourth-line production
Most fourth lines are responsible for delivering energy, and the Coyotes’ unit certainly is tasked with doing that. But that isn’t the only priority on the line’s to-do list.
Center Jeff Halpern is the faceoff specialist of the group, winger Jordan Szwarz is earning penalty-kill time and winger Paul Bissonnette adds a physical presence.
It’s a bonus, though, when they chip in a goal — like they did Tuesday against the Avalanche with Szwarz tapping in a rebound from a Halpern shot off a Bissonnette pass.
“We have been getting some scoring chances of late and just haven’t been burying them,” Szwarz said. “The other night in Colorado it was nice to finally get one.”
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