Heading home, the Phoenix Coyotes were hoping they could use their huge surge in the latter half of Game 2 to propel them to a big win over the Detroit Red Wings at Jobing.com Arena.
Coyotes Vs. Red Wings, Game 3: Phoenix Trails, Hoping For Another Late Comeback
Uh, that’s not what happened.
Just 2:41 into the game, Ruslan Salei and Niklas Kronwall scored to give the Wings a 2-0 advantage. Ilya Bryzgalov did not look like the goalie he was in the regular season, and he's been as shaky tonight as he's been all postseason. Early on, the Coyotes just looked, for the most part, like they're boys in a league amongst men.
The Coyotes escaped the first period with just a two-goal deficit, but early in the second, Valterri Filppula scored to make it 3-0 Wings. From there, the home team started to get into the game a little more, controlling posession and getting more quality shots at Jimmy Howard.
Finally, on the power play at 11:43 of the second, David Schlemko put one past Howard to pull the Coyotes within three, and as we prepare for the final half of action in this one, the 'Yotes are going to have to keep up that pressure.
If they don’t stage some sort of comeback like they did in Game 2 (well, a successful one this time), they’re going to be facing elimination in Game 4. This was supposed to be a close series, and the Coyotes are running out of time to prove they truly belong.
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