Lundqvist, Hayes lead Rangers to 4-1 win over Coyotes

In that game, the Coyotes were sluggish at the start and that trend continued in New York.

Goaltending isn’t the only issue during the Coyotes’ skid as slow starts have plagued them. The Drama also started early yesterday evening.

“I go game-by-game, because there’s been a couple games where I thought were very exciting and a couple games that we were under siege”, said head coach Dave Tippett at the morning skate. This time it only took 14:46 into the game to get a shot on goal.

Jets center Alexander Burmistrov was his next victim, when a puck off the end boards left another gaping net, but Hank somehow got a piece of it. “The way things were going?”

Lundqvist said he was “disappointed in myself” for almost letting Arizona back in the game with that poor decision but grateful he made the save, even if he called it more of a “panic save” than anything.

“We still have high expectations for him”, said Samuelsson, who was a Coyotes assistant coach from 2006-11 and has sons (Henrik and Philip) in the Arizona system. “But good teams find ways to win and they can adapt to whatever needs to be done”. He’s choosing to focus on more immediate goals like impacting his team and impacting his hometown by slowly transforming one of the most unlikely neighborhoods, South Boston, into a Ranger haven. Smith had no chance with that.

At last year’s deadline, meanwhile, Coyotes GM Don Maloney said he made the deal because, “Glen came back to me for a serious offer for Keith, and when he put Duclair’s name in as part of a deal, that got our attention”.

The Coyotes did try to push back but penalties and aggressive defensive play from the Rangers, they couldn’t generate a comeback.

The Duclair cost is an enormous one, and while we don’t know what he’ll truly become until tomorrow (which could be a year from now or even more) it’s still fair to say the Rangers paid a big price to bring Yandle in. Nash was able to collect a loose puck and break toward the empty Arizona cage, only to get hooked from behind by Mikkel Boedker, which caused the goal to be awarded.

This year, Smith looks to have regained a few of his earlier form.

The Coyotes faceoff percentage of 40% doesn’t really show how bad they were in the dot tonight; Arizona had 28 face off wins. The Rangers had 42, so take that as you will.

That shot would be the only one to beat Lundqvist, who finished as the game’s first star after making 34 saves. Considering the season ending injury he had a year ago, I am very glad he is doing as well as he is.

Despite being outplayed for much of the first period, the Coyotes had a 1-0 lead on Dahlbeck’s first goal of the season at 15:34. He had one shot, five hits and blocked two shots. They ended a five-game home stand, their longest this season, and are to play six of their next seven on the road. However, as typical as this may seem considering how snakebitten Nash has been, he scored the goal without putting the puck into the opposing team’s net.

The following day, December 9, Duclair was loaned to Team Canada for the World Junior Tournament, after which the winger returned to his QMJHL Quebec Remparts for the remainder of the season. The penalty kill went 3-for-3 to improve to a flawless 13-for-13 in the last four games.