The Arizona Coyotes look to get their second win of the season against the Ottawa Senators.
Game Preview
After a solid win against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Arizona Coyotes walked into Montréal and got their butts handed to them. Unfortunately, Arizona had another slow start, and less than eight minutes in, they were already down 3-0.
The Coyotes need to find a way to play a full 60 minutes because these slow starts are killing them. They either start games by taking multiple penalties or giving up multiple goals.
Thursday was Connor Ingram’s first game with the Coyotes, and it was the third game where the Coyotes gave up six goals. Ingram could have been better, but it’s not fair to expect him to be perfect when the team in front of him gave the puck up repeatedly.
If there was a silver lining in Thursday’s game, it is that the Coyotes continued to fight even when being down. J.J. Moser and Travis Boyd scored early in the third period, and while they couldn’t complete the comeback, they showed a lot of determination. This season will be another tough one, and it’s great to see the Desert Dogs aren’t going to give up their fight.
If the Coyotes are in the second year of a five-year rebuild, the Ottawa Senators seem to think they are ready to take the next step forward. They sent the seventh overall to Chicago Blackhawks for Alex DeBrincat, who should complement their young core.
Ottawa started off slow with losses to the Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs, but they have picked things up since then. They beat the Boston Bruins 7-5 on Tuesday and the Washington Capitals 5-2 on Thursday.
One of the games saw the Senators take an early lead, which doesn’t bode well for the Desert Dogs. Claude Giroux and Brady Tkachuk scored twice against the Boston Bruins in just over three minutes, and Drake Batherson gave them a three-goal lead just over 13 minutes in.
But the Senators have also shown an ability to come back from early deficits. Washington scored twice at the ten-minute mark in the first period, but the Senators scored five unanswered goals to get the win.
Players to Watch
Arizona: Clayton Keller – Keller looked like he really wanted a goal in the Coyotes’ last game and came close several times. He comes into today’s game riding a three-game point streak.
Ottawa: Drake Batherson – Batherson has three goals and three assists in four games with the Senators, including five points in his last two games.
Injuries
Arizona: Conor Timmins (questionable, upper body), Nick Schmaltz (upper body), Bryan Little (ear), Andrew Ladd (knee), Jakob Chychrun (wrist)
Ottawa: Jake Sanderson (questionable, face), Derick Brassard (illness), Cam Talbot (ribs)
Puck Drop
Today’s game is early even by Eastern Conference road trip standards and will start at 1:00 pm Arizona time and will air on Bally Sports Arizona and TVAS2 and on ESPN 620AM.