Coyotes seek 6th straight win, perfect 5-game homestand

When the Coyotes came back from an even 2-2-0 road trip in October, coach Rick Tocchet said their new five-game homestand would be an important one to prove they can defend home ice and string wins together.

Fast-forward to Monday, and the Coyotes have just one game left on that homestand. In the four games they’ve already played, they’ve scored 20 goals, allowed just six goals and extended a win streak to five games.

Arizona looks to make it six in a row on Monday night against the Philadelphia Flyers.

If the statistics are any indication, the Coyotes could be in luck. Philadelphia has allowed the third-most goals per game in the league behind only Ottawa and St. Louis at 3.86. They also own a league-worst .867 save percentage entering their game against the Coyotes, who are putting up the sixth-most shots per game in the league at 33.3.

The Flyers enter Monday with a 6-7-1 record, on the last game of a road trip that took them through Anaheim, Los Angeles and San Jose. Philadelphia earned points in all three of of those games, beating the Ducks and Kings and losing to the Sharks in overtime.

If the Coyotes win on Monday, it will be their sixth in a row, marking their first six-game winning streak since Feb. 16-28, 2012 (6-0-0). Arizona has won six or more games in a row 14 times in its history, and the Coyotes/Jets franchise record for longest win streak is nine games, accomplished twice (1985 and 2010).

A win Monday would also complete a perfect 5-0-0 homestand, which would be only the second time in franchise history that they’ve swept a homestand of five or more games (5-0-0 in March of 2002).

If the Coyotes play well on Monday, it would also portend well for the start of their upcoming road trip: Arizona and Philadelphia will get a rematch on Thursday in the City of Brotherly Love. From there, the Coyotes travel to Pittsburgh, Washington and Detroit.

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