Coyotes/Canucks Preview – Just another measuring stick game….

Phoenix Coyotes vs Vancouver Canucks Jobing.com Arena – Glendale, AZ Puck Drops at 8:00 PM AZ Time TV: NHL Center Ice – No local TV Radio: XTRA 910

The Coyotes will meet the Vancouver Canucks tonight at the Job in a matchup of two potential playoff contenders.  The Canucks are at the end of what is the longest road trip in NHL History (14 games) which is solely because of the Vancouver Olympics and the preparations needed to get GM Place ready to be used as an Olympic venue.  However, this inconvenience doesn’t seem to effect the Canucks as they are 4-1 after the Olympic break.

As you can probably tell from the Canucks record they are absolutely a team that can’t be taken lightly.  However, they aren’t unbeatable.  They do have offensive and defensive weapons in multiple situations.  The thing is that they lack the consistency across the board to be considered scary or a major threat.  The Sedins have gone multiple games without points this recently, the secondary scoring is spotty at times.  Even all-world goaltender Roberto Luongo has been less than perfect especially when he said that yesterday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche was the worst of his career.

When the Canucks are ‘on’ they have the potential to be a wrecking machine that has offensive threats across all lines.  However, while they are mired in inconsistency, there’s no telling how the Canucks will play tonight.

The Phoenix Coyotes have been off for a few days since they shutout the Ducks last Saturday night so they will be fresh for a Canucks team that had a come from behind win over the Avalanche last night in Denver.  With their re-tooled roster, the Coyotes can use this game as a true measuring stick to see where their games are at in all three zones on the ice (defensive, neutral, and offensive zones).

Game Notes -

- A Coyotes victory tonight would be their 40th of the season and match a franchise record for wins.

- Taylor Pyatt is 1 goal away from 100 for his career.  He’s been holding at 99 goals for some time.

- After tonight’s game with the Canucks, the Coyotes will spend 11 of the last 15 games on the road.

- Early yesterday Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Province reported that goaltender Andrew Raycroft will start in net tonight for the Canucks.

- Vancouver’s home record is  23 – 7 – 1.  Vancouver’s road record is  18 – 16 – 1

- This is the last game of the Coyotes current home stand.  They begin a 4 game East Coast road trip on Saturday in Carolina.

- Canucks Ryan Kesler has scored at least one point in the last 10 games

Things to watch for:

The Sedin Twins – One of the most potent forward duos in the NHL is going to be a great test for the new look Coyotes.

Coyotes offense vs. Canucks defense – if there was a perfect match-up in this game it’s the inconsistency of the Coyotes offense and the Canucks defense.  Both can be great when they’re ‘on’.  However, they can be frustrating to watch when they aren’t ‘on’ their games.

Keys to the game:

- Coyotes need to bring their “A” game in their defensive zone

- Coyotes need to bring their “A” game in their offensive zone

- Coyotes need to bring their “A” game in transition/the neutral zone

Officials:

Referees – #13 Dan O’Halloran; #43 Brian Pochmara
Linesmen – #80 Thor Nelson; #84 Tony Sericolo

Injuries/Scratches:

Coyotes: Kurt Sauer(IR), Scottie Upshall(IR), Robert Lang(IR), Mathieu Schneider(IR)
Canucks:Kevin Bieksa(IR), Willie Mitchell(IR), Alex Bolduc(IR), Steve Bernier(IR)

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