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| ARIZONA COYOTES |
| 1–4–0 (2 points) |
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7:00 P.M. – TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25 NATIONWIDEARENA COLUMBUS, OH |
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Bally Sports Ohio ESPN+ (Out of Market) |
After an 0-3-0 start to the season, the Columbus Blue Jackets seek their fourth win in the last five games Tuesday night when the Arizona Coyotes make their only trip of the year to Ohio's capital.
Daniil Tarasov was brilliant Sunday in his first career NHL win, a 5-1 drubbing of the New York Rangers. The four-goal win was Columbus' second largest over the Rangers in club history. Tarasov was aided in victory by a five-goal performance from the Blue Jackets, their best output of the year.
Columbus now looks to take advantage of a home-ice match-up against a struggling Arizona team and get back to within one game of .500 on the young season.
| CBJ | SEASON STATS | ARZ |
|---|---|---|
| 3.14 | GOALS FOR | 2.60 |
| 3.86 | GOALS AGAINST | 5.20 |
| 0.0% | POWER PLAY | 28.6% |
| 85.7%% | PENALTY KILL | 73.3% |
| 30.4 | SHOTS FOR | 24.0 |
| 34.0 | SHOTS AGAINST | 37.2 |
| 44.8% | CF% (EVEN) | 39.8% |
| 50.1% | FACEOFF % | 43.7% |
| 70.2 | 82-GAME POINT PACE | 32.8 |
| PROJECTIONS | ||
| ODDS OF CBJ WIN PER MONEYPUCK | 69.4% | |
| ODDS OF CBJ WIN PER THE 538 | 63.0% | |
| CAESAR'S SPORTSBOOK BETTING | CBJ -220 | |
| COYOTES: LAST THREE GAMES | ||
| SAT, 10/22 | @ OTTAWA | L, 6-2 |
| THU, 10/20 | @ MONTREAL | L, 6-2 |
| MON, 10/17 | @ TORONTO | W, 4-2 |
| COYOTES: TEAM LEADERS | ||
| GOALS | NICK RITCHIE | 3 |
| ASSISTS |
SHAYNE GOSTISBEHERE, TRAVIS BOYD, JJ MOSER |
3 |
| POINTS | SHAYNE GOSTISBEHERE | 5 |
TALKING POINTS: YOTES
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This is Arizona's sixth and final game of a six-game, two-week road trip to start the season. The delay is a result of the Coyotes sharing an arena with the Arizona State Sun Devils hockey program, and because the Coyotes are playing in the Sun Devils' facility, it's the college team — not the NHL team — that gets priority. It doesn't get much better for the Yotes, who have only four of their first 24 games in the desert.
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Despite giving up 26 goals in the first five games of the season, the Coyotes 5.20 goals against average isn't last in the league. Wild, isn't it? Literally — the Minnesota Wild have allowed 27 in their first five, saving Arizona from owning the worst goals against average in the league. The Yotes -14 goal differential in 5-on-5 play can't be saved though; it ranks dead last.
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Another category the Coyotes rank 31st in: they're -13.2 in shot differential per game, averaging the fewest in the league (24.0) and allowing the third-most in the league (37.2). Only Anaheim, at -15.2, has a worse differential.
- Not all hope is lost for the franchise. Dylan Guenther, the 9th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, scored his first NHL goal Saturday night. That goal came on the power play, which has been one of a very few number of bright spots for Arizona. The Coyotes have six power play goals on 21 attempts; the 28.6% conversion rate ranks 7th in the league.
STORYLINES
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GOALIE CONTROVERSY?
As of early Tuesday morning, no starter goaltender has been announced by head coach Brad Larsen. But regardless of if it's Elvis Merzlikins or Daniil Tarasov, Columbus' goaltending will be worth watching. If the Blue Jackets go with Elvis, it'll be vital for the 28-year-old to turn in a quality start. He's struggled mightily this season, with a 4.19 goals against and .864 save percentage through his first four starts. If it's Tarasov, it'll be another opportunity for the young netminder to showcase his promising ability. The 23-year-old got his first career victory Sunday in Madison Square Garden against the Rangers and looked every bit up to the challenge of stopping a dynamic New York Rangers offense. (11:50AM UPDATE: Tarasov will start, per head coach Brad Larsen.)
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POWER PLAY: 0-FOR-EVERYTHING
Columbus is now 0-for-15 on the man-advantage this season, held off the scoreboard when on the power play in the team's first seven games of the season. That's the longest it's taken the Blue Jackets to get their first power play score of the season. Not that it's much of a consolation, but the boys in blue do have the third-fewest attempts on the man-advantage, with only Chicago (4-for-13) and St. Louis (2-for-9) having less trips to the power play. Arbitrary prediction: the Blue Jackets score *twice* on the power play Tuesday, the first coming from Johnny Gaudreau.
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THE INJURIES HAVE STARTED
In the NHL, it's only a matter of time until injuries begin to mount. Patrik Laine went out in the season opener, though his return doesn't seem to be too far off. Saturday night it was Justin Danforth, who was off to a solid start in his second NHL season. He's out indefinitely with an upper-body injury. Sunday, Nick Blankenburg became the newest name to join the injury list. No timetable has been disclosed for his return from what the team is calling, as they are with Danforth, an upper-body injury. But whatever it is, it did warrant the club to bring up Gavin Bayreuther from the Cleveland Monsters. Liam Foudy will draw into the lineup in Danforth's place, but it's expected that Adam Boqvist, not Bayreuther, will return to the lineup in Blankenburg's place Tuesday.PROJECTED LINES*
Updated: 11:50 a.m.
| LW | C | RW | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Johnny Gaudreau | 38 | Boone Jenner | 29 | Patrik Laine |
| 91 | Kent Johnson | 34 | Cole Sillinger | 93 | Jakub Voracek |
| 14 | Gus Nyquist | 96 | Jack Roslovic | 59 | Yegor Chinakhov |
| 50 | Eric Robinson | 7 | Sean Kuraly | 24 | Mathieu Olivier |
| LD | RD | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Zach Werenski | 2 | Andrew Peeke |
| 4 | Vladislav Gavrikov | 27 | Adam Boqvist |
| 22 | Jake Bean | 44 | Erik Gudbranson |
| Starting Goalie | Backup | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | Daniil Tarasov | 70 | Elvis Merzlikins |
*SUBJECT TO CHANGE
