Phoenix Coyotes plays host to Columbus Blue Jackets in the fourth and final meeting between them
The second last game of Thursday will be played at the Jobing.com Arena as Phoenix Coyotes plays host to Columbus Blue Jackets.
This will be the fourth and final meeting between the two teams during the course of the season.
Out of the three games that have taken place between the two teams, Coyotes won the first two games, 4-2 and 4-3, while Blue Jackets were able to come back and win the last game 5-3 in the end.
Both the teams are going in the opposite directions in the league.
Coyotes have been in splendid form as with the strong display of ice hockey they have managed to win six out of their last seven games.
Blue Jackets, on the other hand, have to climb up a distance which separates them and the final play-off spot by nine points.
Though this is possible but considering their recent form, it is highly unlikely to occur.
The game is more like some of the other games of the day where Coyotes face the spoiler role playing Blue Jackets.
The season saw Blue Jackets in and out of the playoff’s cut but the thing that has hurt them the most is the fact that they have won only two out of their last 12 games.
In their last game against Colorado Avalanche, Blue Jackets suffered a 5-4 loss in overtime.
"You get two short-handed goals, it should win you a hockey game," Jackets coach Scott Arniel said following the tough loss. "For 50 minutes, we played a heck of a hockey game. Then the last 10 we made some mental mistakes that cost us goals, right up to
the last three seconds of the game."
Blue Jackets has played 73 games during the course of the season out of which it has won 33 games in regulation time and 11 games in overtime to score a total of 77 points.
On the other hand, Coyotes has played 75 games out of which it has won 40 games in regulation time and 11 games in overtime to score a total of 91 points.
Coyotes are going through a good run and in their last game against the St. Louis Blues. They came up with a decent performance that saw them winning the game 2-1 in the end.
Lauri Korpikoski scored the winning goal of the game which was also his 18th goal of the season.
"No one is surprised to see [Korpikoski] scoring like this," Coyotes captain Shane Doan said after the game. "He's an elite player and everyone has been kind of waiting for him to put it together. We count on him to break the game open with his skill."
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