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Well the Red Wings came out aggressive and assertive and the Coyotes came out, in my opinion, conservative. The power play disappeared  again, we went 0-5. The Red Wings are like a machine, it seemed like the entire first period was played at our end of the ice. The Red Wings had 55 shots on goal, compared to the Coyotes 33. It meant the Coyotes would once again exit in the first round of the playoffs. From sportingnews.com:

“With Tuesday’s 6-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, the Coyotes are 0-6 in the first round since moving to Arizona for the 1996-97 season. During that time they’ve scored one goal in three Game 7s. The franchise, which started at the Winnipeg Jets, hasn’t won a series since 1987. So it was another first-round exit for a team which started the season with no owner or coach, played much of the year in a half-empty home arena but still won a franchise record 50 games and finished with the fourth most points in the NHL.”

And thats important to remember. I didn’t even think we would have a team much less make it into the playoffs. The fans couldn’t be happier with the performance of this team. They were the underdog all season, not getting any respect from the national hockey media. However the Phoenix fans knew all season the Coyotes were one of the best teams in the NHL. From fiveforhowling.com:

“First, and foremost, I want to just say how proud I am of the Phoenix Coyotes and their fans.  At the end of last night’s debacle game 7, at least 13,000 stayed until the final horn while standing, cheering and chanting “Let’s Go Co-yotes”  It was heart-wrenching to experience, but that scene to the left just shows you what it was like, and why there is nothing that any Coyotes fan is going to be upset about when looking back on the 2009-2010 season.”

The only person I felt sorry for was captain Shane Doan. He has been injured since game 3 and had to watch the series unfold from the bench. That must have been painful. From azcentral.com:

“Doan was injured in Game 3, a shoulder separation that was so severe, coach Dave Tippett said Tuesday night, that at least three or four weeks recovery was recommended. Not that Doan didn’t try to convince his coach otherwise. When asked if he could articulate how it felt to sit out, Doan looked to the floor. “No. No. You’d give anything to be out there and help your teammates. . . . It was tough.” The decision to sit out was made Monday, Tippett said, after the two had a heart-to-heart and agreed staying off the ice was best for the team.”

Thank you Phoenix Coyotes.

Who doesn’t love must win games? When your ass is on the line, its amazing what a difference some perseverance can make. The Coyotes converted 3 out of 6 power play opportunities on their way to a 5-2 win in Detroit. Having Taylor Pyatt park himself in front of the net really gave Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard problems all day. From sportsillustrated.cnn.com:

“The Yotes also got a monster performance out of Taylor Pyatt. The massive winger set up residence in front of Howard, clearly unsettling the goalie on two of Phoenix’s power-play goals before deflecting a Derek Morris slapper into the net himself to send the Joe Louis faithless packing at 5:25 of the third. “We’ve been tinkering [with the power play] and I thought he did a great job in front of the net,” Tippett said. “He finds loose pucks. He had an excellent game for us.”

You can’t say enough about goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. He was a brick wall with 31 saves. From azcentral.com:

“It was a helluva pressure,” said Bryzgalov, who made 31 saves. “They got 5-on-3 power play; it was all about our penalty-killing, it was outstanding, and we scored a goal that gave us a boost. “I saw the puck pretty well. It’s my ‘D’ and my other players who were in front of me to help me see the shots. If you don’t see the puck, you can’t stop it.”

Now its back to Glendale for game 7. Game 7 with chicks and guns and fire trucks and hookers and drugs and booze!! Jobing.com Arena is going to be INSANE!! From (great title for the post) fiveforhowling.com:

“Make no mistake,  Tuesday at Jobing.com Arena will be beyond electric.  Hell, it may be downright rowdy.  But if you’ve ever wanted to see what it’s like to scream at the top of your lungs for 3-4 hours straight, this is the time to do it.  The Coyotes don’t want their season to end, and Judgement Day is upon us.  The Coyotes have shown they can compete with anyone, and everyone.   I’d be surprised if an injured Shane Doan sits this one out.  He’d show up with his limbs dangling from his carcass, as Coyotes fans know.  The physical presence will be reassessed. So now is the time to ask….  Are YOU ready?  The Coyotes sure look like they are.  When the chips are down, sometimes it’s best to just let it all hang out.  So Coyotes fans, after years of punishment, now is your time to shine.  Shine on, babies..  Shine on.”

That was a disastrous third period for the Phoenix Coyotes. The Red Wings scored 3 goals in the third. The first of the 3 goals was a heart breaker and really took the wind out of the Coyotes. From azcentral.com:

“The dagger came from Tomas Holmstrom, whose goal with 8:51 left gave the Red Wings a 2-1 lead. “We got beat on coverage a couple times,” Tippett said. “The second goal is kind of a broken play, actually, because I thought the play should have been called dead because a player jumped on the side. “It was kind of a hesitation on the faceoff, our centerman wasn’t ready, and Adrian Aucoin backed off the wall, wasn’t ready. They dropped the puck, Aucoin got beat to the net, and we lost the faceoff clean, and (the puck) ended up in the back of our net.”

The Red Wings scored 2 more in the third and defeated the Coyotes 4-1 to take a 3-2 series lead. Now the Coyotes face elimination. Goalie Jimmy Howard and the Red Wings are going to be hard to beat Sunday. From ktar.com:

“Detroit has won Game 5 six times in its last seven series that were tied 2-2. This one was mostly due to Howard, who kept the game tight until his offense came alive. Phoenix will attempt to do something it has never done as a franchise, rally from a 3-2 series deficit. Since moving to Arizona, the Coyotes have never won a postseason series (0-5).”

Shane Doan did not play in game 5 which surprised me. I thought if he could stand he would have been in the game to some extent. I firmly believe he will be in game 6 with everything on the line. You can complain about missed opportunities or you can be a man.

You never want to go into battle without your captain. Its going to be a game time decision for Shane Doan. I can’t imagine we won’t see him on the ice for tonight’s game. From azcentral.com;

“Adrian Aucoin said Doan’s presence is felt whether he is on the ice or not, and he believes if there is even the slightest chance that Doan can play he will. “Everybody knows the type of personality he has, and he’s one of those guys, even though he’s missing a limb, he’d be out there.”

We are going to need all the help we can get. This Red Wings team is a beast. By some miracle, maybe our power play will improve. It’s been horrible all season and can’t get any worse. Can It? From sportingnews.com;

“The Phoenix Coyotes have been successful this season without an efficient power play. They ranked 28th in the NHL in the regular season, but they still won 50 games. But as the Coyotes prepare for Game 5 on Friday with the teams tied at two games apiece, the feeling in their locker room is they must improve their special-teams play if they are to win this series. “We’ve just got to get momentum for our team and get us going and feeling good about ourselves,” Keith Yandle said of his team’s power play. The Coyotes are 0 for 14 for the series after scoring on their first three opportunities.”

So, its not mission impossible. With some persistence and determination I think we can manage a power play goal or two tonight. The Fans will going crazy tonight. The White Out will be in full force at Jobing.com Arena. The fan support and attendance has been great, it improved with every month. It shows the level of fan support a “winning” hockey team can earn in the desert. From fiveforhowling.com;

“The first two playoffs games have been huge successes with sell out crowds of over 17,000 for each. Friday night’s game is (or will soon be) a 3rd sellout, marking the 7th straight for the team (and as an aside, the breakdown of Coyotes to Red Wings fans for games 1 and 2 was probably 85-15 and 75-25, respectively). What does it all mean? I think it means that there are plenty of people that are willing to support the Coyotes in Phoenix and make it the successful franchise that the NHL believes it can be. Will these fans keep showing up indefinitely? Of course not; not unless the product on the ice continues to be worth seeing. Phoenix has a fickle fanbase and the only team that has any real history here are the Suns, and even they were struggling to sell tickets at the beginning of the season before folks knew that they would be a decent team.”

Well after a scoreless 1st period I was expecting some fireworks, with how many goals had been scored in the first three games, it was only a matter of time before these two teams start trading goals. Well the Red Wings kept up their end of the bargain scoring 2 in the second and 1 in the third. The Coyotes on the other hand were shut out. From azcentral.com;

“The Coyotes had a golden opportunity to deliver another stunning victory, but they were victimized by failure on the power play and a controversial goal. And when playing an 11-time Stanley Cup winner that ended the regular season on a roll, those types of issues drastically reduce the margin for error. The Red Wings scored a 3-0 victory in front of 20,006 at Joe Louis Arena on Tuesday night to even the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal series at two games.”

Yeah the Red Wings are a power house. And we are tied coming back to Phoenix where Shane Doan is set to return. So we have that going for us. But you what? The Coyotes power play is crap. From fiveforhowling.com;

“Damn that Jimmy Howard! Also our Power Play sucks. Now 3 of 17 with the extra man. All three of those conversions came in game 1! WTF Mate?”

I like it. The Coyotes showed some resolve and got the home ice advantage back by defeating the Red Wings on the road. The Coyotes returned to playing defense and controlling the tempo, basically what got them into the playoffs in the first place. From fiveforhowling.com;

“I said earlier , heck everyone said ti, that the Coyotes needed to get back to their style of play and dictate how this game was going to be played.   The Coyotes started of pressing into the Detroit zone off the faceoff and Sami Lepisto scored just :29 seconds in putting in a rebound off of a Petr Prucha shot. The second was all Coyotes all the time. They slowed the pace of the game until, with just 32 seconds left in the period, Wojtek Wolski put in a rebound from the left slot over Howard to retake the lead. The third was just more of the same, but the Detroit defense just kept looking worse and worse. Once again down to a one goal lead the Coyotes would catch the Wings on a bad change just moments later. Radim Vrbata took a slapshot from the circle and Howard fanned on the save. 4-2 Coyotes.”

I was at the Scottsdale Culinary Festival so I missed this one. I missed a good one. On a sad note our captain Shane Doan, was injured in the second period. From azcentral.com;

“They had to do that twice in Sunday’s 4-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings – top penalty-killer Vernon Fiddler was scratched with an upper-body injury, and captain Shane Doan left the game in the second period with an undisclosed injury after crashing against the boards. Doan is listed as day to day and will be re-evaluated Monday. He did not miss a game during the regular season. Fiddler said that he hopes to practice Monday and play in Game 4 on Tuesday.”

These games are exciting to say the least. It seemed like the Phoenix Coyotes were off to a good start last night. But the Red Wings looked like a machine in the 3rd period. We won game one and that still gives us a great opportunity in this series. From fivefourhowling.com;

“Too Hot to Yandle opened the scoring for the Coyotes before Wojtek Wolski jumped on a bad giveaway to make the score 2-1. He was nice enough to return that goal later on an absolutely brutal play. Matthew Lombardi broke in alone and made a nice move to make the score 3-3 but the Coyotes coughed one up in less than 90 seconds to set the stage for the celebration pictured. Shane Doan broke down the wing and made an odd man rush out of nowhere. It was a great effort but sadly all for naught.”

Man 7 goals. I’m no hockey expert but that seems like a lot. I think our goalie needs to step it up if we are going to have a chance to win this series. I don’t think we can shut the Red Wings out but better goaltending could have kept us in the game last night and maybe gotten us the W. From azcentral.com;

“For the Coyotes to deliver the rest of the way, Bryzgalov will have to deliver. His teammates had his back in the second period, twice scoring quickly after he gave up goals to Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. But the Red Wings proved too much down the stretch, adding four goals in the third period. That won’t cut it in Detroit.”

Wow, that was exciting! The Phoenix Coyotes had an answer for everything thrown at them last night. In front of a sellout crowd at Jobing.com Arena the Coyotes took a 1-0 game lead in this first round series against the Detroit Red Wings. The White Out was in full force watching Keith Yandle, Wojtek Wolski and Derek Morris each score. From azcentral.com;

“It’s only one game,” Coyotes captain Shane Doan said. “But it was a big game. We keep answering the questions everyone has about us.” A 3-2 victory over the dreaded Red Wings in Game 1 did more than thrill a sellout crowd, alleviate the pressure and preserve home-ice advantage. It set the tone for the entire series. It proved these Coyotes are not a fluke, nor easily spooked.”

You know this playoff hockey business is pretty exciting! How the hell was it at Jobing.com Arena? Was it Bat Shit Crazy? Just about. From fiveforhowling.com;

“What an amazing game last night was…the entire playoff atmosphere around Jobing.com Arena was completely amazing. If anyone who watched this game or was at the arena still has some doubts about the viability of hockey in Phoenix…well, you must be David Shoalts. Seriously, I’ve been to some crazy amped up arenas in my day, and that was simply amazing. Standing ovations for penalty kills midway through the second period…the fans were engaged, loud and louder.”

Nice I like this new tradition of “Throw The Snake” it seems right. I can’t wait for Friday.

The Coyotes are still truck’n along at a winning pace. Still fourth in the West , the team has a franchise record in their sights. From azcentral.com;

“The Coyotes will seek their sixth consecutive victory Tuesday night, and they are on the road facing an opponent that is desperate for wins to stay in contention for a playoff spot. “If they can notch their 43rd victory of the season it would tie the franchise mark set by Winnipeg in 1984-85.”

The Coyotes have a great record by anyones standards. But like the Suns, they have to keep on winning. No slacking off for this team. From fiveforhowling.com;

“Well, the Coyotes play tonight against the Lightning.  Coyotes are an amazing 20 games over .500, and well on their way to the playoffs barring a major collapse.  In fact, the Coyotes number is 7…or 5.5…really, I’m not entirely sure, but I’ll post the two links after the jump, you can review them yourselves and make your own judgment.  Either way, the Coyotes just need to keep on winning to ensure home ice advantage for the first round (and, who knows, maybe if the Sharks want to keep on losing…).”

The Phoenix Coyotes are looking good sitting in 4th place in the Western conference. The success on the ice and a fan friendly attitude has seen attendance go up and up. From phoenix.bizjournals.com;

“An increasingly likely playoff berth and fan interest in hockey after the Vancouver Olympics could be accounting for the increase in attendance at Phoenix Coyotes games. The 15,000-fan draw for the Coyotes also comes on a night when they were competing directly with the Phoenix Suns and Cactus League baseball for fans. The Suns drew 18,200 for their win over the Indiana Pacers.”

I have heard nothing but good experiences concerning Coyote home games. They are not just fan friendly but family friendly. So yeah, the good play on the ice is definatly a reason fans interest is up. One Coyote who is having a great season is Russian goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. From fiveforhowling.com;

” Ilya Bryzgalov gets his 7th shutout of the season, and 34th win setting a franchise record.”

Those Russians are solid between the pipes. Speaking of pipes I wonder if Bryzgalov can carry a tune like his fellow country man Edward Gil?

This can’t be a good sign. According to the Wall Street Journal the NHL is requiring that the Coyotes fly US Airways to away games instead of the luxury charter service provided by the teams majority owner. This is like the movie Major League, when the female owner wants the team to fail so she starts doing things like taking away their plane and leaves them a bus to take to away games. The NHL claims this is going to result in savings for the bankrupt team. “The league said the team, which filed for bankruptcy protection in May, shouldn’t use the same flight arrangements as last season, when the Coyotes spent $2.6 million to charter Swift Air LLC jets.” I bet the team is loving this. “If the league succeeds in forcing the switch, some Coyotes, such as 6-foot-3, 225-pound goalie Jason LaBarbera, may not be happy about squeezing into coach-sized seats.” What’s next? Catering by Subway? Read the story here