Struggling San Jose Sharks take on equally poor Phoenix Coyotes - NHL Preview
Two of the Pacific Divisions struggling teams face each other on Saturday, March 10, 2012 for what are two very important points for both as the Phoenix Coyotes face the San Jose Sharks at home ice on the Jobing.com Arena.
Both the Coyotes and the Sharks are in a rut as they struggle to end their long running losing streaks which threaten to send them out of the playoff spots.
San Jose are the worst off as they are on a four game skid and have won just once out of their last seven games.
That poor run of results continues the Sharks drop from fourth in the Western Conference down to eighth with just 75-points and if this run continues they might well end up out of a playoff spot by Saturday.
Phoenix on the other hand are facing their own problems both at home and on the road.
The Coyotes powered their way into the top three of the Western Conference with some amazing results last month as they lost just a single game out of the 12 matches they played.
However, that run ended with the start of February and the Coyotes have been in free fall ever since with a five-game losing streak that sees them drop down into seventh in the Western Conference with 76-points.
Sharks (33-24-9, 75 pts)
San Jose’s poor run of form shows no signs of ending and it seems that their dreams of taking a fifth straight Pacific Division crown will not be realised.
The Sharks have lost four in a row but in their recent two games showed signs of improvement after dominating proceedings for most of the time.
They lost both games in a shootout.
San Jose though just need to improve on their defence and find a way to keep their leads if they want to return to winning ways and there is no better chance to do just that than Saturday.
Joe Pavelski is not impressed with his team’s knack of giving up goals late on and feels disappointed that the Sharks missed out on two points in their last game.
"We just can't give up that last goal. There definitely was some good out there, but it's tough to accept when you don't get two points. We've got to find a way to win."
Coyotes (33-25-10, 76 pts)
Phoenix on the other hand shows little signs of improvement.
They lost their last game against an injury ravaged Minnesota Wild team after a shootout for their fifth straight loss.
The Coyotes are in all sorts of trouble and will have to arrest their slide soon if they want to make it to the playoffs.
Coyotes coach, Dave Tippett, feels that his team lost the game due to their own lack of finishing in front of the net.
"We had over 80 attempts at the net, and you need to make some of these count. You can't put yourself in holes like that. That's a recipe for disaster, and that's not the first time we've seen that."
Predictions
Tough to choose a winner but San Jose are improving and may well end their skid against Coyotes.
Goals will be tough to come by as both teams are struggling in offence.
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