NHL Pick – Detroit in Tough in the Desert
For those of you that thought the Detroit Red Wings were going to march into Phoenix and roll over the Coyotes, think again. The Coyotes won Game 1 and sent a message to the hockey world that their regular season success was no fluke.
Detroit Red Wings @ Phoenix Coyotes (Phoenix leads series 1-0)
10:00 PM ET, Friday, April 16, 2010
Jobing.com Arena, Glendale, Arizona
- The Phoenix Coyotes ranked 24th on offense, and averaged 2.6 goals per game. The Coyotes are 14.4% on the power and had 45 power play goals.
- The Detroit Red Wings ranked 14th on offense, and averaged 2.7 goals per game. The Red Wings are 19.2% on the power play and had 59 power play goals.
- The Coyotes averaged 3.0 goals per game at home, and gave up 2.4 goals against on defense.
- The Red Wings averaged 2.5 goals per game on the road, and gave up 2.7 goals against on defense.
The Detroit Red Wings looked like they were going to roll and claim an easy victory in Game 1 of their series against the Coyotes. They registered 20 shots on Ilya Bryzgalov in the first period and took a 2-1 lead to the dressing room. Then Phoenix woke up and the Wings appeared to have a difficult time containing them. The Wings went 1-6 on the power play and that appeared to be the deciding factor in Game 1.
Detroit, despite scoring only two goals looked pretty good offensively. Nick Lidstrom and Thomas Holmstrom both scored for the Wings while Pavel Datsuyk, Johan Franzen and Brian Rafalski were also prevalent on the score sheet. The Wings registered 40 shots on goal in the game and still Jimmy Howard lost his first game in regulation since March 9th.
Is anyone else happy about the Coyotes win? (sorry Detroit fans). The best story in the NHL this season just keeps getting better. Phoenix handed the Wings only their sixth loss in the last 23 games and did it with their 28th ranked power play! The Coyotes went an uncharacteristic three for four with the man advantage and it was all that they needed to hold off the hard charging Wings.
Derrick Morris recorded one goal and two assist in the game, Keith Yandle had one goal and one assist and Matthew Lombardi generated two assists in the game. Who???? That’s right – the Coyotes are a scoring by committee unit who appear to get contributions from different players each and every night. Ilya Bryzgalov continued his MVP type season and managed 38 saves, many of them quality, against a Detroit team that had been on quite a roll going into the post season.
The Phoenix Coyotes proved that the notion of Special Teams and Goaltending being the most important factors in the playoffs is not a myth. Expect much of the same of Friday with the home team prevailing again.
Pick: Phoenix Coyotes +115
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