Rangers seek change in fortune vs. Coyotes, Friday at 7:00 p.m.

New York faces Arizona losing six of eight (2-5-1) to fall outside playoff picture

12/14/2018, 11:25 PM
New York Rangers center Ryan Strome heads into the corner after the puck during the first period against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center. / John Geliebter/USA TODAY Sports
New York Rangers center Ryan Strome heads into the corner after the puck during the first period against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center. / John Geliebter/USA TODAY Sports

NEW YORK -- No team in the NHL has run as hot and cold this season as the Arizona Coyotes. If the Coyotes are going to begin another surge Friday night, they'll need to take care of the puck better than they did Thursday night.

The Coyotes will look to snap a four-game losing streak Friday, when they visit the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

The game will be the second game of a back-to-back set by the Coyotes, who fell to the host Buffalo Sabres, 3-1, on Thursday. The Rangers last played Monday, when they capped a two-game road trip by losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 6-3.

The loss Thursday continued a rollercoaster season for the Coyotes (13-15-2), whose current skid - all four losses have come in regulation - was preceded by a four-game winning streak. And right before that, Arizona lost four straight (0-3-1).

Such chaos is par for the course for the Coyotes, who opened the year by losing five of their first seven (2-5-0) before winning five straight. They then lost three straight (0-2-1) before alternating wins with losses prior to the first four-game losing streak.

Against the Sabres, the Coyotes were done in by sloppiness. All three Buffalo goals were set up by Arizona turnovers.

"We've just got to manage the game a little bit better, manage the puck a little bit better," Coyotes head coach Dave Tocchet said afterward. >> Read More

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