Pittsburgh Penguins vs Phoenix Coyotes Pros and Cons

Tonight the Pittsburgh Penguins play in Phoenix against the Coyotes. The start is an hour earlier than last night. The puck drops at 9:08pm EST. Dont forget to set the clocks back after the game tonight!

The Coyotes come into the game with a record of 4-5-3. That puts them in last place in the Pacific division. There stats break down like this...They score 2.5 goals a game and give up 3.2 goals a game. These both rank 22nd in the league. Their power play clicks at 14.3%, good for 19th in the league. They kill 77.4% of power plays. That ranks 26th in the league.
They are coming off a 6-3 loss to the Stars last night in Dallas. Both teams will be playing their 3rd game in 4 nights.

Last season, the Coyotes blew through the league and collected their 1st 100 point season in team history. They finished with 107. However, they lost to the Detroit Red Wings in the opening round of the playoffs. In the offseason, the Coyotes lost Zybinek Michalek and Mathew Lombardi, 2 key players in their lineup. They added Ray Whitney. So far this season, their top 3 forwards, Whitney, Shane Doan, and Wojtek Wolski, have only 1 goal goal between them. Their leading scorer is a defensemen, Ed Jovanovski. Yes, that same Ed Jovanovski!

The probable goaltenders for tonight are Brent Johnson for the Pens and Iyla Bryzgalov. We all know about Johnson. Bryzgalov has been ok this season but has not been getting any offensive help. He has posted a 4-2-3 record with a 2.84 GAA and .916 save%.

On to Pros and Cons......

PROS:

• The Pens are playing a good team that is struggling(sound familiar??). If the Pens can dig down deep and come out with the same intensity they played the final 20 minutes last night, they will win this game. When teams are down, you gotta kick them. In other words, the Pens gotta kick the Coyotes before the Coyotes kick the Pens. 
• Brent Johnson is the probable goaltender tonight. We will get to see what he is made of. He is coming off of his 1st poor performance of the year. I think you will see a veteran backup regain his form and lead the way. 
• The Penguins power finally got their 1st goal in 7 games last night. Tonight they are playing one of the worst penalty killing teams in the league. I saw progress in the Pens pp last night as the game went on. They were getting pucks at the goal and creating chances. If they keep it simple and continue to get pucks at the net, this may be the break out game they need

CONS:

• The Coyotes should be a better team than their record indicates. The Penguins cannot take this team lightly. Although Phoenix's top forwards arent lighting it up every night, they have the potential to break out at any time.
• Although both teams are playing their 3rd game in 4 nights, the Penguins are coming off 2 emotional, physical games. They have also traveled across a few time zones. You have to be leery of the fatigue factor. 

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