Broadly speaking, the Phoenix Coyotes share at least a few traits in common with the Nashville Predators. The Coyotes’ scrappy cousins thwarted them on Thursday to the tune of a 2-0 loss, greatly damaging Phoenix’s chances of making the playoffs in the process.
Before this post gets a little more specific, here’s the “outside help” the Coyotes need in plain terms:
Shut out in a critical game. Off-season needs are obvious. Dallas can clinch playoffs with a win over St. Louis tomorrow.
— Craig Morgan (@CraigSMorgan) April 11, 2014
To lay the specifics out more precisely, here is where the two teams stand:
Dallas: 89 standings points; two games left (vs. St. Louis on Friday; at Phoenix on Sunday); Dallas has an insurmountable tiebreaker advantage, so Phoenix must finish with at least one more standings point.
Phoenix: 87 standings points; two games left (vs. San Jose on Saturday; vs. Dallas on Sunday).
However you spin this situation, the Coyotes failed down the stretch. They’ve lost six games in a row, although they manage to scavenge three standings points from OT (one loss) and shootout (two losses) defeats.
Shane Doan on tonight's loss: "We've put ourselves in a bad spot. We've got to be ready for the last 2 games."
— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) April 11, 2014
It’s been a strange stretch of outside help for both teams. The Stars beat the Predators in a shootout but lost in regulation to Columbus while the Coyotes dropped tonight’s regulation contest against Nashville after beating Columbus.
Some might say it would be fairest if Sunday’s season finale in Phoenix decides it all, but the Coyotes have to do something uncomfortable - root for the Blues, for one - to make that happen.