3-2 Coyotes take 1-0 series lead

Well, it's upsetting and disappointing, but the Wings dropped game one 3-2 last night. It was a hard fought game, but Phoenix was definitely the better team. They outplayed Detroit for the majority of that game, and the Wings could not sustain a consistent attack. Phoenix's game plan was to hit the Wings and wear them down physically, and it worked like a charm. Detroit had a 2-1 lead at the end of one, but were clearly worn down when the third period came along.

Detroit got on the board first when Tomas Holmstrom sent a floater towards the net that beat Bryzgalov and caught him by surprise. It caught everyone by surprise. It was a simple play and he missed it. But Phoenix got the equalizer on the power play when a point shot by Yandle found the net off of Brad Stuart's knee. Wings later on the power play would take the lead back when Lidstrom's point shot found the back of the net through heavy traffic. Wings lead 2-1 after one.

The Coyotes would tie it up in the second on the power play on a Wolski one timer. The second period was clearly in favor of the Coyotes. Detroit dominated the first, but the second was more even. The physical play of the Coyotes was clearly taking its toll on the Wings.

Early in the third, the Coyotes break the tie on another power play from a blue line shot by Derek Morris. The third period was dominated by Phoenix. The physical play took it's toll on Detroit and they could not sustain an attack and could not get good scoring chances. Late in the period, the reffs missed a potential game changing call when Lidstrom took a stick to the face that cut him. It could have been a 4 minute double minor, a 4 on 3 for 20 seconds, then a 5-3 for about a 1:20. Instead, there was no double minor, no 5 on 3 and the Wings failed to score on the shortened power play, and failed to score the rest of the game.

What Detroit has to do to win game 2 is get physical and stay out of the box. They let the Coyotes control the physicality of the game, and it wore down on them. Plus the Phoenix power play was 3 for 4, the only one they didn't score on was cut short due to a penalty they took during it. The Wings have to stay out of the box to win game two.

Prediction: Wings-3 Coyotes 1.