The Phoenix Coyotes keep showing exactly why they were one of the top regular season teams this season, and are making fast believers out of plenty of people around the league with their play in this series with Detroit. Two third period goals from Petr Prucha and Radim Vrbata gave Ilya Bryzgalov all the cushion he’d need to shut down the Red Wings and give the Yotes a 2-1 series lead at the Joe this afternoon.
One of the biggest reasons the Coyotes have been so effective is the fact that their blueline has chipped in offensively. Today was no different, as young blueliner Sami Lepisto beat Jimmy Howard less than 30 seconds into the game, pinching in from the blueline and burying a rebound to put Phoenix up 1-0 and knock the crowd out of the game early. Valtteri Filppula answered for the Wings with a powerplay goal late in the first, firing a spinning wrister through Bryzgalov.
In the 2nd, both teams seemed to take a step back in terms of intensity, as the game settled down a little bit, unlike the wild 2nd period we saw out in the desert in Game 2. All it took was one rush from the Coyotes in the closing seconds of the period to get things going again, though, as Wojtek Wolski stretched to gather a rebound and flipped a backhand over the diving Howard and give the Coyotes a 2-1 lead heading to the 3rd.
In the final period, Petr Prucha gave the Coyotes a 2 goal lead with a great move, flying up the boards and catching a nice pass from Matthew Lombardi before tucking it around Howard. The Wings weren’t out of this one yet, though, and Johan Franzen answered with a snap shot from just above the goal line that beat Bryzgalov high on the short side to pull them within one. Radim Vrbata put the game away for Phoenix less than 2 minutes later, however, beating Howard with a slap shot to the short side that the rookie netminder probably wishes he could get back.
The Wings had a couple of chances to climb back in late, including a powerplay that was turned into a two man advantage with Howard pulled, but some great shot blocking and more solid goaltending from Bryzgalov ensured that the Coyotes would head to Game 4 with a 2-1 series lead.
One note of bad news for the Coyotes: Captain Shane Doan was knocked out of the game and did not return after injuring what appeared to be his shoulder on a tumble into the end boards in the 2nd period. No word yet on whether or not he’ll be good to go for Game 4.