The term “nail in the coffin” might seem premature for a team that still has more than half its games to play this season, but Saturday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche felt like it had that kind of a pressure riding on it for the Coyotes.
With a loss Saturday, they would have been just one point in front of the lowly Los Angeles Kings for last place in the Pacific Division with both teams scheduled to play again Sunday. That meant there would be a chance the Coyotes could wind up in the basement by the NHL’s holiday break.