The Arizona Coyotes lost again last night, falling 5-1 to the Islanders in a performance that coach Dave Tippett called “very sloppy,” with goalie Mike Smith adding, “We were in the hockey game, and we just completely self-destructed.”
The loss was the Coyotes’ seventh straight in regulation.
They haven’t won since Feb. 9.
They haven’t won in regulation since Feb. 3.
So yeah, not good times for the ol’ Desert Dogs.
On the bright side, the Coyotes are threatening to take over 29th spot from the Edmonton Oilers, who, after last night’s win in Minnesota, are now just one point below Arizona in the overall league standings.
Why might that be important? Because finishing second-to-last means a 33.5 percent chance of drafting Connor McDavid first overall (13.5%) or Jack Eichel (20.0%) second overall, while finishing third-to-last means a mere 11.5 percent chance of winning the lottery and drafting McDavid, with no real shot at getting Eichel, assuming he goes second overall.
The Coyotes have two games left on their road trip, tomorrow in New York against the Rangers and Saturday in Boston.