Phoenix Coyotes at Edmonton Oilers, Game 72 Breakdown

Phoenix Coyotes
@ Edmonton Oilers

Sunday, Mar 18, 2012, 6:00 PM MDT
Rexall Place

Five For Howling

TICKETS

Sweeping The Oilers - Five For Howling
Tomorrow the Phoenix Coyotes will be looking to get their third win over the Edmonton Oilers this season, fifth in a row, at the Rexall Place. This may be just what the doctor ordered for the struggling Desert Dogs, who have yet to gain the momentum in March that they had when they were dominating the month of February. If the Yotes can get the win tonight they will be tied with the Dallas Stars for the Pacific Division lead, which will make Tuesday's game all the more interesting, Coyotes and Stars, winner leads the division.

Coyotes Expected Lines (courtesy Left Wing Lock)

Ray Whitney - Antoine Vermette - Shane Doan
Mikkel Boedker - Daymond Langkow - Raffi Torres
Lauri Korpikoski - Boyd Gordon - Taylor Pyatt
Paul Bissonnette - Gilbert Brule - Marc-Antoine Pouliot

Rostislav Klesla - Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Keith Yandle - Michal Rozsival
David Schlemko - Derek Morris

What The Final Twelve Games Mean - Oil On Whyte
It might be the last 12 games with Mr. Dithers at the helm. After word got out in January that a contract extension was in the works, all talk on that front has been completely silent. Now it could just be stuck on details like term and money, or it could have been signed months ago and the Oilers are simply waiting for some positives to occur on the ice to help mitigate some of the backlash when they announce it. Or there is still the faint hope pipe dream chance that the Oilers let Tambellini go at the end of the year. As was pointed out in this article on Oilers Nation, the Oilers have yet to open talks with Ryan Smyth about an extension. Could this be a sign that Tambellini is now a lame duck GM?

Rake - Oil Acumen
Despite their impressive collection of young talent, the Oilers are still a long shot to land Suter, and that might be putting it mildly. However, there is little doubt that the team should have interest in this player, based on the range of skills he possesses, and his ability to be a minute-muncher than can handle himself against anyone.

Oilers Expected Lines (courtesy Oilers.NHL.com)

Ryan Smyth - Shawn Horcoff - Teemu Hartikainen
Ben Eager - Sam Gagner - Ales Hemsky
Ryan Jones - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle
Darcy Hordichuk - Eric Belanger - Lennart Petrell

Ladislav Smid – Jeff Petry
Ryan Whitney – Nick Schultz
Theo Peckham – Corey Potter

G72 Coyotes at Oilers - Lowetide
There’s a window of opportunity here for Hartikainen. With Paajarvi struggling with his sideburns and Linus Omark refusing to get taller, Harski the Finn finally has 11 games of blacktop and perhaps a chance to show some things to management (as he did one year ago).

Today's Frustrated Edmonton Fan: DanTencerBlows

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