Ottawa vs Arizona: Coyotes to be stronger in the battle of league outsiders

Arizona defeated Ottawa 8-5 in the first head-to-head meeting of the season. Will D.J. Smith’s team be able to get revenge in their upcoming clash? We predict the Coyotes will once again be closer to success!

Ottawa are having another unremarkable season that hardly anyone will look back on years from now. The Senators are still undergoing a stuff change, which has dragged on for an obscenely long time. The team’s new leaders are gradually trying to emerge, but they can’t drag the whole team along at the distance yet. The Red and Black have had some decent games but inconsistent failure has plagued them. In just 11 meetings, D.J. Smith’s men have won just three games and suffered eight defeats. That means that Ottawa currently sit in 14th place in the Eastern Conference standings with no realistic chance of making the playoffs.

Arizona are another hopeless NHL outsider who does not solve any serious problems, but periodically waves of frenzy come over them, causing them to produce fantastic results. In the last five games, for example, they’ve won four games, with Ottawa, Detroit and Toronto winning by a combined score of 22-12. I should note that 22 pucks for three games in a row are the record for results in the XXI century in the entire league, so even in such a poor season, the Coyotes made history on the positive side. Alas, before such a bright stretch, they had far worse results, as they had lost 11 of their previous 15 meetings and now find themselves in last place in the Western Conference standings.

Ottawa and Arizona are two NHL outsiders, so in their face-to-face confrontation, it is important to understand their current form, as they have had no tournament motivation for a long time. Of course, the Coyotes are much better now. In the last five meetings, they’ve been impressive, suffering only one defeat in this stretch, and that in a hard-fought game against Boston. The Senators are not that good with the results, and the other day they lost to Arizona - 5:8, that’s why it’s necessary to place the bet on that Arizona won’t lose for 1.86.

Too solid scoring activity did not distinguish Ottawa and Arizona, but Coyotes recently improved the situation. In the previous four meetings with Arizona, 38 goals were scored (9.50 average per game), which is very high even by NHL standards. The Senators are also doing well, as they have 37 goals against (7.40 goals-against average) in their last five games. The only face-off between the opponents in the season gave us 13 goals, so the best option for the prediction looks like Total Over 6.5 pucks for 2.30.

Phil Kessel is having another solid season in the NHL. Yes, he’s a long way from his career-best mark of a hundred points, but for a 34-year-old and an outsider team, he has a very solid performance. In 58 games played, the American has already scored 35 points (6 goals + 29 assists). He continues to play without breaks for another year, which is a very heavy burden for the veteran, but he has to endure it with dignity. Therefore, you should take a closer look at the bet on Phil Kessel’s Total Over 0.5 points for 4.00.