The Arizona Coyotes face the Minnesota Wild with both teams looking to improve from slow starts to the season. The Coyotes have a 7-9-3 record and have lost five of their last six games while the Wild have a 9-9-2 record. Both teams are looking to climb out of the bottom of the Central Division and the Western Conference and the upcoming game should be a good one as a result.
The Coyotes are having a rough season with their offense letting them down, scoring only 2.68 goals per game with only 16 goals in the last seven games. Clayton Keller, Matias Maccelli, and Lawson Crouse have combined for 17 goals and 25 assists while defensemen Shayne Gostisbehere and J.J. Moser have added six goals and 19 assists from the point but the rest of the offense has struggled. The hope is that Travis Boyd and Nick Ritchie can step up as they play a pivotal role in the forward unit but have only added eight goals and 12 assists this year.
The offense has let the Coyotes down but the defense has also struggled, allowing 3.37 goals per game. J.J. Moser and Juuso Valimaki have combined for 1.6 defensive point shares and 55 blocked shots but the rest of the unit has struggled, allowing opponents to carry the puck into the offensive zone and easily find open shots on the net. The bright spot h as been the play of goaltender Karel Vejmelka who has a .916 save percentage and a 2.97 goals-against average on 488 shots.