A three-day break from hockey probably wasn’t a bad idea for the Coyotes.
Their offense had sputtered, defensive lapses continued to sting them at inopportune times and special-teams play had been bitten by the inconsistency bug that’s plagued the team all season long.
But taking some time away from the game didn’t rectify any of those issues or another glaring problem the Coyotes left behind when they paused for a league-wide shut down for the holidays.
Their losing streak.
Despite doing a better job of funneling pucks and bodies to the net, the Coyotes couldn’t muster enough reward for their effort and dropped their fifth straight with a 3-2 loss to the Stars at Gila River Arena.