Entering Tuesday, the Coyotes were just three points out of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.



They’ve been the beneficiaries of a historically poor turtle race to the finish line in the west, to be sure, and no one is truly fooled that they’re somehow a true, playoff-caliber NHL team as they look right now.



As they sit in the midst of their western Canada road trip, though, the team remains proud of where they are in the standings. The fact that they haven’t abandoned all hope of reaching the postseason is impressive in itself, remarkable in a strange and resilient kind of way.



Nathan Currier, the founder of the website Man Games Lost, has pulled enough data over the years to confirm that the Coyotes have lost more than 300 games of play from injured skaters this year, good for a pace to become the third-most injured team in the NHL since 2010. Based on the point shares data analysts would assign the injured players were...