Dave Tippett needs his players to want to win against Mike Ribeiro and the Nashville Predators

Dave Tippett is pretty much at the end of his rope with the Arizona Coyotes; can you blame him?

They’re one of the best face-off teams in the entire NHL. They’ve got a notoriously good defensive core; both Keith Yandle and Oliver Ekman-Larsson are at the top of nearly every team’s list of coveted blue-liners, while Michael Stone and Connor Murphy are becoming as effective as the team’s front office had hoped. Mikkel Boedker is supposed to be emerging as an elite talent on offense.

So… why has the team become so gun-shy on offense? Why aren’t they marking the other team man-to-man on defense? Where’s the consistency in front of Mike Smith that the Coyotes have been so reliant on in seasons past? The team’s core is more or less identical to the core from the famed 2012 playoff run… why don’t we see that on the ice?

Whatever the reasoning for the loss of confidence, though, the Coyotes need to shake it off and step it up — because the Nashville Predators are coming t0 town, and these Central Division phenoms are thirsty for another victory.

Details for Thursday night’s game:

DATE: Thursday, December 11th

TIME: 7:00 pm (MST)

LOCATION: Glenale, Arizona

ARENA: Gila River Arena

TV INFO: Fox Sports Arizona, Fox Sports Tennessee

Keys to Victory:

The Arizona Coyotes have fallen off the map in the past few weeks, going 2-6-2 in their last ten games and losing their last seven straight home appearances — a franchise record.

It’s easy to keep sliding down once you’ve started losing, and the Coyotes have been the poster children for this. With every subsequent loss, they look more and more uncertain in the other team’s zone; with each goal scored against, they become more erratic and sloppy behind their own blue line. It’s going to take a renewed sense of confidence to turn this season around — the only way the Coyotes are going to start winning is by believing they can.

The team has all the pieces necessary for a win tonight. Mikkel Boedker and Tobias Rieder look absolutely lethal when they skate out together, and it’s no secret that both skater knows how to score. They’re being split up for tonight, but they can work that to their advantage — push their line mates to be better than they are. If they can find a way to transition from fast draws and clean passes to quick pressure and efficient shots on goal, the team could easily put themselves up on the board early on.

On the blue line, the Coyotes have an even stronger advantage; the team’s back end is exclusively made up of team returnees, and they’ve all got long memories. I don’t think anyone on defense will be as aggressive as Shane Doan is likely to be, but be certain that Mike Ribeiro and his entire line will have trouble getting past what should be an extremely determined defensive corps.

If they truly want to win tonight, though, Dave Tippett’s Coyotes will have to play sixty minutes of hockey. Tippett came into the league as an undrafted player, and now he’s one of the most respected and renowned coaches in the NHL; this team has been trained from day one to use what they have to their advantage and win games as the underdog.

The team needs to remember that — as Tippett’s Coyotes, they aren’t taught to be skilled and flashy — they’re taught to be hard workers who get their hands dirty in order to get the job done right. We haven’t seen these guys very often this season; with the Predators looking like one of the most powerful teams in the West, they’ll need to make a reappearance in order to even run away with a point.

Projected Line Combinations

Forwards:

Mikkel Boedker – Antoine Vermette – Shane Doan

Martin Erat – Martin Hanzal – David Moss

Tobias Rieder – Sam Gagner – Lauri K0rpikoski

Option A: Brandon McMillan – Joe Vitale – BJ Crombeen

Option B: Jordan Martinook – Kyle Chipchura – Joe Vitale

Defense:

Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Zbynek Michalek

Keith Yandle – Michael Stone

David Schlemko/Brandon Gormley – Connor Murphy

In Goal: Mike Smith