Let's get this going, shall we?
What once was old is new again, as the Red Wings and the Coyotes meet in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second consecutive season. This time around, Detroit has home ice by virtue of the Western Conference's third seed.
The Wings are the only team to have met Phoenix in the playoffs more than once, beating them in the 1998 Conference Semifinals and again in last season's Conference Quarterfinals.
Of course, none of that history matters going into this series. You could argue that Detroit's 2-1-1 record against the Coyotes this season means something, but given how inconsistently the Red Wings have played I'm not sure I'd even agree with that.
The way I see it, this series entirely depends on which Red Wings team shows up. Ilya Bryzgalov could steal the series, a goalie can always do that, but if the Detroit team that showed up in Chicago on Sunday is the one we see in the playoffs, Bryzgalov will have to steal the series for the Coyotes to advance. If the motivated, patient, focused Red Wings are what we see, they're simply better than the Phoenix team.
That said, we could very well see the sloppy, lazy, disinterested Red Wings. If that's the team that shows up, this is going to be a cake walk for the Coyotes.
Because playoff games alone aren't enough drama, we've got lineup fun today.
In a bit of a surprise move, Mike Modano is the healthy scratch up front for Detroit. Kris Draper and Drew Miller, who had been rotating in and out of the lineup, are both in.
Jakub Kindl is out on the blue line as Niklas Kronwall returns.
Okay, I managed to bury my head in code for the last several days to put off playoff nerves. I guess there's no avoiding it now.
Damn, great shot. Howard down early? Not sure.
Good shift by the second line, Wings responding.
Wings doing well when they get into the Phoenix end but getting tied up in their own zone.
Fantastic kill there. Hit on Helm high?
A couple good offensive shifts but Wings spending too much time in their own zone. Part of that is penalties, four in the period is ridiculous. Hopefully they even out.
Big stop by Jimmy to start the period there. Wow.
Fantastic stick work by Pavs on the wraparound. He couldn't have made that if he tried to skate any further.
Bert was p*ssed there. Fight kinda sucked but good to see him fired up.
The Mule makes it 2-1! Not much of a screen, just a great shot.
Two fantastic long shots to build the Detroit lead. Great shot by Rafalski. Real solid possession on the power play.
Very solid period. Gotta stay on it, though.
Hudler snipes Bryzgalov, top corner. About six minutes of playing time, gets a goal.
Just woke up and logged in to check out the score. Looks like all our primaries are doing their job.
Off to chow for now and I'll be watching this game delayed on AFN tonight.
GO WINGS!
Another big kill. Loving special teams tonight.
One down...
Comment on this Article
You must be logged in to add your comment.