Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Coyotes ugly: Arizona suffers sixth straight loss in 6-0 defeat to Pens

Patric Hornqvist, Olli Maatta, Sidney Crosby

Pittsburgh Penguins’ Patric Hornqvist, center, is congratulated by Olli Maatta, left, and Sidney Crosby after scoring his second goal against Arizona Coyotes goaltender Louis Domingue in the first period of an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh on Monday, Feb. 29, 2016. (Matt Freed/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)

AP

The Arizona Coyotes plummeted to the West basement last season. It’s starting to look like they might see a similar drop toward the end of 2015-16.

They didn’t just lose to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday. Instead, they got destroyed by a score of 6-0, which fits in well with their six-game losing streak.

To some the story of this game was Patric Hornqvist, who collected his first career hat trick and added an assist for good measure. This really might spotlight Arizona’s fall from bubble contender to lottery fodder as well, however.

The Coyotes only have three wins since Jan. 26. This slump isn’t as extreme as the one that saw the Coyotes manage just four wins for about two months in 2014-15, but the broader result may be similar.

Arizona sold off some talent during the trade deadline, so it’s not as if management is in denial. Still, a really bad finish may dampen some of the optimism fans may have developed in seeing strong work, especially from young players like Max Domi and Anthony Duclair.

Hey, at least they ended up with Dylan Strome for their troubles last year, so maybe a big fall might be worth it in the long run.