Arizona Coyotes’ rhythm to be tested on road trip

After getting past the NHL trade deadline, the Coyotes wanted to avoid limping to the finish line as another spring without the playoffs loomed.

And to date, they’ve been able to accomplish that goal with the team toting a five-game point streak – its most productive run of the season – into Saturday’s home game against the Blues.

But only one of the teams the Coyotes have pried at least a point away from during that stretch is in a comfortable playoff position. The others are on the outside looking in, and just one club (the Kings) is within striking distance of a wild-card spot.

That won’t be the case on Arizona’s upcoming five-game road trip, as the competition appears to get stiffer with three playoff-bound teams on the docket and two others still very much in contention.

“Really good challenge for our young players,” coach Dave Tippett said. “You’re playing all teams that are in the playoff hunt or in the playoffs. Really good challenge to keep expanding our game.”

Saturday’s game against the Blues was actually the start of a tough schedule for the Coyotes the rest of the way, as only two of their remaining opponents are more than 10 points back of a playoff position (Stars and Canucks). Everyone else is either in possession of a berth or still close to one; the Capitals, whom the Coyotes will play twice in that span, are jostling for the Presidents’ Trophy as the league’s top point-getter.

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Arizona’s 11-round shootout triumph over Los Angeles last Tuesday has been its only recent win against a team still in pursuit but if that game was any indication of how the Coyotes feel about matching up with a desperate group, the vibe seems to fuel them just as much as their competition.

“I think as you’ve kind of seen of late, it’s kind of brought the best out of our group playing it those meaningful games,” center Jordan Martinook said. “Obviously, we’re not in it, but if you can play the role of spoiler, play those teams hard, it just kind of builds our confidence going into next year and try to develop everyone.”

Perhaps the best example of the Coyotes feeding off this urgency is how they’ve manufactured points lately. Arizona had scored a third-period goal in three of its last four games, a timely tally that has either helped them secure a point or two.

“It’s just kind of the no-quit attitude,” Martinook said. “Looking back to the beginning of the year, we’d get down in the third period and we couldn’t string anything together. Now I think this last-month stretch, (we’re) kind of gaining confidence with games in that situation. You can gain confidence that you can come back. So instead going into the third period down a goal and thinking, ‘Oh, OK. We’re probably not going to get back,’ we’re thinking, ‘OK, let’s get it back and let’s try and get the lead.’ ”

The back end has behind a few of these late-game rallies, with defenseman Anthony DeAngelo scoring the game-winner in the third last Saturday against the Devils; he also converted the game-deciding goal in the shootout against the Kings. And defenseman Jakob Chychrun delivered the game-tying goal Thursday in a 5-4 shootout loss to the Red Wings.

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Overall, the unit had chipped in four goals in its last four games and had combined for 10 points during the five-game point streak.

“We’ve made some plays off transition, and our goalies have done a good job of getting the puck up to us,” defenseman Alex Goligoski said. “I think with the group we have it could be a good way for us to create offense going forward here, and we’ve done a good job of that lately.”

This productivity would be more meaningful if the Coyotes were gearing up for the playoffs or pushing to get in, but it’s still significant to the players because how they finish this season could establish momentum for 2017-18 and beyond.

“It’s important,” Goligoski said. “We may not be in a playoff run, but the end of the season matters going forward here. As an organization, we want to set the tone and have kind of a standard to live up to.”

Injury update

Captain Shane Doan didn’t play Saturday after leaving Thursday’s game with a lower-body injury. He’s considered day-to-day and will accompany the team on its road trip, Tippett said.

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-8276. Follow her at twitter.com/azc_mclellan.