It’s Cliché Time for the Arizona Coyotes. There is no tomorrow. Their backs are against the wall. Every game is a must-win game.
Goalie Darcy Kuemper (#35) of the Arizona Coyotes moves to block a shot by Center Jordan Weal (#40) of the Philadelphia Flyers.
With three games remaining, the Coyotes are about to play the most important game of the last seven seasons. This has been the case for about a week now. With a regulation win over the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night, they could have pulled into a virtual tie for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference playoffs. The NHL tie-breaker rules would have given the spot to the Coyotes (based on total points earned in Head-to-Head games, minus the first match up) with four games remaining.
Instead, the Coyotes lost the game in a shootout, complicating the playoff picture even further. Heading into Tuesday’s action, the Avalanche hold a 2-point lead in the standings, with the teams tied in the ROW (Regulation and Overtime Wins) category. With a Coyotes regulation win and an Avs regulation loss tonight, the teams would be even in points, and the Coyotes would take over the final wild-card spot by virtue of taking over the ROW lead. This would leave the Coyotes in control of their own fate with two games remaining.
Any other outcome, however, and you would need an abacus to figure out the multitude of possible scenarios. The worst-case scenario for the Coyotes would be a regulation loss coupled with an Avalanche regulation win. This would put the Avs ahead by four points with a maximum of four points available for the Coyotes. That would put the Avs magic number at 1, meaning that any point earned by the Avs or any point lost by the Coyotes would clinch the playoff spot for Colorado.
Center Travis Konecny (#11) of the Philadelphia Flyers chefked by Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson (#23) of the Arizona Coyotes
So, essentially, there is no tomorrow for the Coyotes. Their backs are against the wall. Every game from here on out is a must-win situation.
Photo by Lewis.Bleiman@prohockeynews.com
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