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Two Wins in a Row, Closer to the Show

April 5, 2013, 9:54 AM ET [11 Comments]
Adam French
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The Phoenix Coyotes win 4-2 at home extending the home record to a very solid 12-7-1 with their second straight win.

Before this five game point streak the Coyotes had lost 6 in a row and effectively looked to be destined for the basement. That's kind of how condensed schedules work, there really is no margin for error. The past five games the Coyotes have looked much better than that nasty slide indicates. They sit in a dogfight with the Oilers and Blue Jackets for those final two spots and any hot streak or cold is going to decide this. A friend of mine likes to say that tanking should never be an option and that it's better to come close and miss the playoffs. The Coyotes seem to think so too.


The big story is the insanity that was the flu bug which seemed to hit five players all at once in the afternoon before the game. Schlemko puked after each of his two shifts before being removed from the game and Jason LaBarbera puked during practice. Two of the others were Paul Bissonnette and Kyle Chipchura, luckily it appears to have been a bug for less important players to the team.

"That was one of the more amazing wins I've ever been around," Tippett said. "I don't know what happened, but during the afternoon, we had five or six guys that were throwing up on the way to the game. That's the first game I think I've ever coached with two buckets beside me on the bench."

"[LaBarbera] couldn't go, Schlemko tried but he had to go down the hall after every shift and get sick. We had the wounded dog theory going."


The Coyotes came out sluggish in the first period which is pretty unusual at home. The Red Wings dictated a lot of plays and their speed was causing some issues on the rush. There were a few breakdowns on the defense. The Filppula goal was nobodies fault, it took a weird bounce right to his stick and he won't miss from there with Johnson committed.

The second period was all Coyotes. Mikkel Boedker was explosive and his play on the Conner goal was just what the Coyotes need from him. Speed, strength and awareness. Phoenix outshot the Red Wings 20-5 in the second period to take the 3-1 lead.


Mikkel Boedker : Added 2 assists making his 17th of the season. He also kept on pace for the team lead in points with 23. You have to love the development Boedker has gone through. It was really noticeable in last seasons playoffs. He's become the speedy two-way second line winger they needed him to become, and hell, he's still only 23, there's room to improve.

Keith Yandle : Though his ice-time was lessened because of the amount of PP's Detroit had, he still managed a strong game. He had only one blatant error which was his soft play on Datsyuk that let him dangle around him and cut straight to the net for a scoring chance. I know it's Datsyuk so it's 50-50 if you'll stop him anyways, but at least try to touch him or something. He added two assists as well and also has 23 points for the team lead. One reason why the Coyotes should be loathe to trade Yandle is that his production ramps up like mad down the stretch and in the playoffs every year it seems.

Chad Johnson : Giving Labs a break, Johnson was excellent. He weathered that first period beating and only allowed one unstoppable goal. The rest of the game he was very solid turning away 34-36 shots. The 26 year old has looked very good in his limited appearances.

Michael Stone : Nice to see him get his 4th goal. A lot of people were confused when he passed Rundblad on the depth chart, but his development in the AHL has been excellent. He shoots hard, hits hard and aside from some rookie lapses in his own end is looking like a keeper down the road. He logged a season high 25:42 minutes and didn't look out of place at all.

Chris Conner : Scored his first goal in his first game after being called up. The Michigan native was pretty solid in very limited ice-time. Good to see a journeyman like him get rewarded.

Next up, the Avalanche and a must win game against a non-playoff team.
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