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The Phoenix Coyotes head into the final week of the regular season essentially in a win-or-go-home mode. Which means that they’re going to need every bit of their roster to step up, whether it’s up on the forward lines, the blue line, or between the pipes. One player on their team, perhaps more than any other though, needs to step it up.
That player is captain Shane Doan. Doan has never been known as a big points guy, especially when you look at some of the captains throughout the league, but his production is going to be key during this final stretch. The Coyotes need him to come through in a big way.
Doan’s numbers on the season are among the better figures on the team. He has 24 points on the year, in 44 games, including 13 goals. That goal total leads the team and he’s second overall in points. But would it be too much for the Coyotes to ask for just a little bit more from their captain?
Not at all, particularly of late, since they aren’t getting much. In nine games since the month of April started, Doan has just three points, two of which came in one game. He’s finished even or with a minus rating in seven of those nine games. He’s been a quiet player overall, in the physical game as well.
Doan doesn’t have a goal since April 6th, which is a streak that spans the last six games. In fact, he doesn’t have a point of any kind during that stretch. It’s his longest stretch since a seven-game streak in which he didn’t record a single point earlier this year. The Coyotes need more.
If the Coyotes are going to pull out wins here in the final stretch, they need more production from Shane Doan. He needs to be effective in some way. He needs to be physical and play around the net. If not, at least there are plenty of decent golf courses in the Phoenix area.
