2023-24 Regular Season, Game 53: Hurricanes at Arizona Coyotes (Pregame)

The Hurricanes embarked on a three-game road trip, beginning on Tuesday night when they stopped in Dallas to face the Stars. As has become customary in recent years, this was a tight contest. The Canes nearly scored on one of their first shifts, with Seth Jarvis tipping a shot off the crossbar. Roope Hintz got the Stars ahead in the first period, freezing Pyotr Kochetkov before snapping one between his pads. The Canes' captain responded 13 seconds into the second period, burying a backhanded saucer pass past Jake Oettinger to knot things up. Less than five minutes later, the Stars regained their lead as Mason Marchment beat Kochetkov from the left dot as he came off the bench. The Canes tied it again late in the second period as Jesper Fast legally redirected Jordan Martinook's shot off his skate and into the net. Once again, the Stars were the next to score, but it would put them ahead for good this time. Jason Robertson found himself with plenty of space to bury the go-ahead goal early in the third period. Matt Duchene added an empty-netter to put them ahead by two. Jack Drury appeared to have cut into Dallas' lead as he scored with the extra attacker. Dallas challenged the play for goalie interference successfully to squash any potential comeback in a 4-2 win.

The Opponent: Arizona Coyotes (23-25-4, 50 Points- 7th in the Central Division)

Last Meeting- It wasn't long ago that these two met, facing off in Raleigh in the final game before the All-Star Break for both teams. Arizona got on the board late in the first period as Dylan Guenther's initial shot was stopped but hit Logan Cooley before going into the net. It was a tough bounce to give the Coyotes the early advantage. Martin Necas got it back for the Canes on the power play in the second period to tie the contest. Connor Ingram and Antti Raanta continued to battle into the third period, and it looked like the two sides were heading for overtime. With 36 seconds left, Dmitry Orlov swooped in from the point and snapped one over the shoulder of Ingram to put the Canes ahead for the first time. Jesper Fast scored 13 seconds later to make it 3-1 as the Canes won their third straight game going into the break. The Canes held Arizona to 11 shots, including zero shots in the third period.

Since We Late Met- The Coyotes have picked up where they left off going into the break, and that's not a good thing. Their loss to the Canes was their third straight loss, and it has only gotten worse since the break. They're 0-3-1 since the pause, losing to Vegas, Nashville, Philadelphia, and Minnesota. They've fallen far in the Wild Card picture with their recent play, sitting eight points behind Los Angeles and St. Louis. The Coyotes have only scored ten goals in four games, with no player scoring more than once. Connor Ingram has had an especially tough time. He allowed three goals on six shots against Vegas. Then, he allowed five in an OT loss to Nashville. He got the start on Wednesday night against Nashville, allowing two goals on 30 shots, but left the game early with an injury. Karel Vejmelka has done well when called upon, allowing five shots on 74 shots across the appearances. He'll be in the net tonight. 

Stories/Keys of the Game

1. Don't Fall into the Trap

When you face teams who are struggling or are outside of the playoffs, the first thing you're worried about is falling into the trap. These trap games can be especially costly for teams trying to maintain their position in the standings. This is one of those games. Last season, the Canes stormed into Mullet Arena and tore the Coyotes apart in a 6-1 drumming. Tonight, they have to make sure they play a game like that. The Coyotes are considerably better than they were last season, but you can't allow a team on a seven-game losing streak to find life. That means your top line has to be better than they were in Dallas. It also means you need your depth to shine through against a considerably thinner team. 

2. Spencer Martin (Likely) Suits Up, Again

Since returning from the break, the workload has fallen on Pyotr Kochetkov. He's started all four games and has largely been solid. With this game being the first half of a back-to-back, I would imagine they opt to start Kochetkov against Vegas. This means Spencer Martin will likely be in the net tonight in Tempe. Martin last saw action when the team was in Boston before the break and was fantastic in a 3-2 win to begin the Mom's Trip. The problem is that it was over three weeks ago. While I have a decent amount of trust in Martin to get the job done, his lack of game action is a little concerning.

3. Scoring at a Premium During Arizona's Losing Streak

Over the last seven games, the Coyotes have been outscored 31-16. They're just three for their last 21 attempts on the power play. Logan Cooley has scored three times. Clayton Keller and Dylan Guenther have scored twice each. Keller has seven points in seven games, which is good, but the lack of depth scoring has been painfully evident. That has been the major problem since the start of the new year. They're 4-11-2 since New Year's Day, with 43 goals during that span. Again, Keller is a point-per-game player, but the rest of the team has been lacking. It has aided in their fall down the standings, as has their lackluster goaltending.