Penguins vs Coyotes Preview and Pick
The Phoenix Coyotes look to slow down the streaking Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday in an NHL showdown out west.
The Coyotes this season have a record of 25-19-10. Phoenix has 60 points and currently sits in fifth place in division play and ninth place in conference play. At home, the Coyotes are 15-9-3 and over their past 10 games are 4-5-1.
Pittsburgh is in first place in the Metropolitan division and the Eastern Conference standings with a record of 38-14-2 for 78 points. On the road, the Penguins are 16-10-2 and over their past 10 games are 7-2-1.
This is the first game of two between the teams his season. Pittsburgh is 3-0-0 against Phoenix over the past three games the two have faced off against one another. The last Phoenix win against Pittsburgh was in October of 2009.
With a victory tonight, the Penguins become the second NHL team to reach 80 points on the season. Phoenix on the other hand needs the two points to remain on the heel of eighth place Vancouver for the last spot in the playoffs in the Western Conference.
Since late November, Pittsburgh has won 23 of its 29 games. With a win the Pens would move into second place in the league standings trailing just the Anaheim Ducks, if Chicago losses on Saturday to San Jose.
Ten of the 16 losses this season by Pittsburgh were when the team scored fewer than two goals. Pittsburgh is an incredible 38-4-2 when scoring two goals or more and 36-2-2 if they scored 3 goals or more.
Phoenix was ahead of Pittsburgh in the overall standings just prior to Thanksgiving Day. However, the club has fallen down in the standings since. The Coyotes have not won over two straight since November 5.
The Coyotes only have 10 wins in regulation since the end of October and have lost 23 of their last 34 games overall. The Coyotes missed out in the playoffs last season, after reaching the finals in the Western Conference in 2012.
Sidney Crosby for Pittsburgh scored just 16 points during January, his second lowest output of this season, but has six points in his past four games. Antoine Vermette was scoreless for 11 games, but has now scored 8 in his past 8 games.
Pittsburgh will be without goalie Tomas Vokoun, Chris Conner, Joe Vitale, Beau Bennett and Pascal Dupuis, as all have different injuries.
Phoenix has no injuries to report, but did put Tim Kennedy on waivers this week.
With Pittsburgh surging towards the top of the league in points and Sidney Crosby seeming to come out of his scoring slump, the Pens should have a rather easy time of it tonight.
Pick: Pittsburgh 3-1
