COYOTES SILENCE HOCKEYTOWN

(Photo credit: Dave Reginek NHL/Getty Images)

by Chris Carrano



Game 7 here we come. It’s only fitting that the series between two franchises that are on opposite ends of the hockey spectrum, goes the distance. The Detroit Red Wings, a proud and storied franchise that has qualified for the postseason for 19 consecutive seasons was walloped in front of their home crowd yesterday afternoon by an up and coming Coyotes team that at the beginning of the season was in such financial disarray, their head coach quit and many didn’t know whether or not the team would fold or move elsewhere.

“Home-ice advantage is only good if it comes down to a Game 7,” said Coyotes coach Dave Tippett. History is on the Coyotes side. The last time the Detroit Red Wings have won a Game 7 on the road was in 1964. "Our building will be a crazy atmosphere. Anytime you can compete in a Game 7, that's like the pinnacle right there. I'm sure our team will be charged up. We've worked awful hard to get home ice."

Despite playing without injured captain Shane Doan, the Coyotes came together for a 5-2 victory to even the series up at three games apiece. There is a possibility that Doan will lace up his skates for what will be the biggest game in franchise history. "That'd certainly be sweet," said defenseman Mathieu Schneider, who scored a power-play goal early in the second period. "He was present all night. He was in the room in between periods, talking to the guys and keeping everyone focused. Just a tremendous leader -- one of the best leaders I've ever been fortunate enough to play with. He's another great captain in this League."

That enthusiasm was well received in the locker room. The Coyotes used their power play and penalty kill to dominate the Red Wings. Phoenix took three consecutive penalties in the games opening minutes but it didn’t matter as forward Laurii Korpikoski opened the scoring just 4:10 into the game with a shorthanded goal that silenced the Hockeytown crowd.

Schneider connected with a power play goal at 2:27 of the second period but Detroit quickly responded when Brad Stuart scored 24 seconds later to cut the Coyotes lead 2-1. A power play goal by Radim Vrbata, which turned out to be the eventual game winner and an even strength goal from Wojtek Wolski put Phoenix up 4-1, and they never looked back. Just for kicks, Taylor Pyatt added a power play goal at 5:25 in the third to send most of the crowd home.

"We needed our power play to give us something," Tippett said. "We got a good effort out of them. I was surprised that we needed our penalty kill so much so early, but [Phoenix goalie Ilya Bryzgalov] just jumped in the game and was excellent."

Jimmy Howard made 24 saves for Detroit and will play in his first Game 7 tomorrow night in Phoenix. "They scored on the power play three times," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said when asked about Howard's performance. "I don't think you can blame him for anything that happened here today. We were all in it together."


CANUCKS DETHRONE KINGS

Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo, long vilified for his inability to come up big in big games, made the save of the year last night. It came as the Los Angeles Kings held a 1-0 lead early in the second period and Ryan Smyth found himself alone with the puck knocking on Luongo’s doorstep, who as Dave Lozo of NHL.com describes it, looked like a disoriented turtle that couldn't roll over to get back into position.With the top half of the net exposed for Smyth to do his best Lamar Odom impression, Luongo made a dynamite glove save to preserve the lead. Luongo was fortunate that it was Smyth who took the shot. "I was just laying down and I saw Smitty winding up," Luongo said, "and luckily he doesn't have a Howitzer and I was able to snare it."

Canucks winger Steve Bernier tied the game less than two minutes later and Daniel Sedin broke a 2-2 tie at 2:03 of the third to put away the Kings for good.

"Obviously our goaltender tonight gave us an opportunity to stay in this game and win this series," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said. "We weren’t nearly good enough in the first half of the game and he kept us in there."

Could it be that Luongo is putting his doubters to rest? Only time will tell as Vancouver gets a bit of a reprieve as they await their second round opponent.

TONIGHT’S GAMES

Washington at Montreal 7 pm (WAS leads 3-2)
Buffalo at Boston 7 pm (BOS lead 3-2)
Chicago at Nashville 9 pm (CHI leads 3-2)