Coyotes Fall to Bruins 3-1
As the big defenseman Zdeno Chara went, his Boston Bruins followed. He set the tone by hitting everything in sight, trying to intimidate Shane Doan, and the rest of the Bruins did the same.
The first three to four shifts from the Bruins team caused the carnage of two goals in 38 seconds – one on their power play and one short handed.
For the first 16 minutes of the first period, the Coyotes could not recover and when they were able to find their legs and skate as a team, play would stop, which benefited the Bruins. The Bruins team had the better start and the better initial jump on almost every shift of last night’s game, and it was a learning experience for the Phoenix Coyotes.
The Coyotes had their chances and Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas kept it close, only giving up a goal off of a deflection from Niko Kapanen’s skate. However, if the Coyotes converted on their power play, the outcome may have been different.
The Coyotes found their way in the second period and somewhat in the third, but when the Bruins scored their final goal of the night with 11 minutes remaining in the game, they clamped down and prevented anything getting past Thomas.
A team wins together and loses together, and with this current group of Coyotes is a perfect example. No one can truly point fingers at any one specific player because everything fell apart. They may have thought it would be easy – after all Thursday night was easy – but the Bruins came out hungry being embarrassed the night before in Dallas and the Coyotes were initially trying to do too much and departed from the simple game they played on Thursday night.
It reminds me of a 2001-2002, 2002-2003 Tampa Bay Lightning squad. When everything clicked for them, they held their own in games and looked like the dominant team they would become. However, when they got shellacked, they did so as a team, and when they lost – they lost in a huge way.
There is some good news from last night. The Coyotes won the majority of face offs, they only took three penalties, and after giving up two goals, goalie Mikael Tellqvist tried to keep them close. Plus, their next game isn’t until Wednesday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets so they have some time to regroup before the next contest.
Hopefully, the Coyotes can return to their game when travel to play the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday night.
Discussion Area - Leave a Comment