When the Arizona Coyotes traded for forward Alex Galchenyuk they were hoping to see him become a team scoring leader.
And soon, at this current pace, he may very well overtake current team scoring leader Clayton Keller.
Alex Galchenyuk is Scoring Some Big Goals
Alex Galchenyuk is on a Hot Scoring Pace
Since the beginning of the calendar year, Alex Galchenyuk has scored 16 points in his last 22 games. That is good enough to put him second in scoring on the team. He now is right behind talented forward Clayton Keller with 34 points, just four points from the scoring lead on the team.
Keller has been in a horrid slump and really misses the chemistry he had with the injured center, Nick Schmaltz. Over the same last 22 games Keller has only nine points and hasn’t tallied a goal since January 20, 2019, or 13 games ago.
When Galchenyuk scores the Coyotes have a 9-2 record. So, it makes sense that they are trying to put the puck on his stick whenever possible. His latest heroics came in an important divisional contest with playoff implications.
The Yotes were in Vancouver for their western Canada road trip and were fighting the Canucks for a playoff spot with several other teams.
It appeared that the Coyotes were going to win the game 2-1 when the Canucks had something else in mind. They tied the game at 16:57 and overtime had to be the deciding factor.
At 1:54 of the overtime period Alex Galchenyuk took the puck from Alex Goligoski on the right boards and muscled his way to the net. In a classic wraparound move, he went behind the right side of the net faking goalie Jacob Markstrom as if he intended to go to the opposite side… but instead doubled back and tucked it in on an incredible shot to win the game.
It was his 14th goal of the season and he leads the team in that department.
Alex Galchenyuk’s Play Vital to Help Arizona Get to the Playoffs
When he was traded to the Arizona Coyotes, the team gave up a promising and popular player in Max Domi. It seems that Domi is flourishing in Montreal, but don’t think that Montreal won that trade just yet.
Galchenyuk missed 10 games early in the season with an injury and his totals would be even more inflated had he not been injured.
With 21 games remaining, the Coyotes need as much as they can get from every player especially with their long list of injuries. Having an Alex Galchenyuk lighting the lamp in these last vital games will certainly help the team’s playoffs aspirations.
When he arrived in Arizona it was well known that he wanted to play center. After getting the green light to do that it just didn’t work out. So, head coach Rick Tocchet moved him back to the wing.
He has excelled there since, and it was a good move. A player with his stick handling skills and size is more fit to play on the wing.
That’s nothing but good news for the Arizona Coyotes who now have a seven-game homestand to try and secure a wildcard playoff spot… and you can be assured Alex Galchenyuk will be right in the middle of it.
Even if he’s playing on the wing.
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