The Vancouver Canucks will continue their miserable western trip as they enter the desert tonight to face another struggling team in the Phoenix Coyotes. Neither team has won more than three games in their last ten, and both should be looking to turn things around. However, one might have a bit more spark coming into this one. Let's find out why.
The Canucks have been roughed up pretty bad in California all year, but nothing nearly as bad as their 9-1 loss to the Ducks last night. Vancouver, known for their battlefield-like defense all season, had gone through stretches where they did not let in nine goals in seven games. However, they were not able to block shots or disrupt scoring opportunities in this one. Obviously, the game was out of reach by the end of the second period against Anaheim, so the Canucks took the foot off the gas and focused on the extracurricular stuff as they geared up to fly to Arizona.
Clearly, the keyword is embarrassment. I have not looked up the history, but I am going to go out on a limb and say that this is among the worst regular season losses in Canucks history. Like every team that has some sort of dignity, Vancouver will be looking to erase this memory. 24 hours is definitely within the time frame where motivation is still fresh.
After two rough games in a row, expect Vancouver to come out with a little more discipline tonight. They will have victory in sight from the get go.
The Phoenix Coyotes similarly are in a slump themselves, but to be blunt, they are right where they should be. Starting off the season hot and successful on a high octane offense was the worst thing that could have happened for the team. It allowed them to believe that they were a finesse team, and led them to abandon that tight chippy style that worked best for them. While teams have now woken up defensively, Phoenix has found themselves struggling in a transition of trying to juggle their offensive setback with keeping the puck out of their own net. To make a long story short, they are not a good team at either end of the ice at the moment.
Essentially, Vancouver is a better team than Phoenix and will have a very high incentive to win this one (which would be removing their title as the temporary laughing stock of the NHL). The Coyotes are proving to be incompetent overall at the moment. Many bettors have been fooled into thinking that Vancouver is a bad team coming into a back to back, because of the margin of their loss. Therefore, the public has been on Phoenix and the value is still on Vancouver at +105.
SBR Top-Rated Sportsbooks
Free NHL Play!
Reply With Quote