Game 4 – WCQF – Shoot….The….Puck – Coyotes 0 – Red Wings 3

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Phoenix Coyotes v Detroit Red Wings - Game Three

As much as I hate to repeat myself this season, wins in the NHL sometimes come down to who makes the fewest mistakes on the ice for any given game. When it came to the three goals the Coyotes allowed against the Detroit Red Wings in game 4, the Coyotes made the most mistakes in their defensive zone.

Two main areas that explain the mistakes the Coyotes made were the mental lapses on defense that allowed all three goals along with stupid, undisciplined penalties by Coyotes players, one of which resulted in a goal for the Red Wings.

I’m just going to show one video from Game 4 that was (and is) an example of how a simple mental lapse on defense can change the course of a game:

How do you allow a player like Pavel Datsyuk to make a gift wrapped, wide open shot like that?!?!?! Credit the Red Wings for doing their homework on the Coyotes and their tendencies to allow open shots their defensive zone.

So how do you explain the lack of offense from the Coyotes?

The Coyotes simply didn’t make the best of the opportunities that were given to them.

The biggest offensive concern in game 4 was the lack of shots on goal for the game. In this series, when the Coyotes lead a game in the shots on goal department, they have won. In Game 4 the Phoenix Coyotes led only the second period in shots on goal and did not have a single shot on goal for well over 10 minutes into the third period. One of our keys for the Coyotes to win this series was to shoot a ton of pucks on Red Wings Goaltender Jimmy Howard.

Here’s more samples of the Coyotes shooting woes from game 4:

- The seven times when the Red Wings had a player in the penalty box, the Coyotes only managed only 9 shots on goal

- The Coyotes managed only 19 Coyotes shots on goal for the game when playing 5 on 5 hockey.

- On the flip side, when the Wings were playing in situations with a Coyotes player in the box, they generated seven shots on goal on 4 opportunities. One of those shots was a goal. (Since one of these four situations was a co-incidental minor that sent a Coyote and Red Wing player to the box, the Red Wings really had three man advantage situations.)

The Red Wings took advantage of offensive opportunities when they were presented to them. The Coyotes did not.

The Red Wings also played aggressively on both ends of the ice by pressuring the puck carrier in the Coyotes defensive and offensive zones along with crashing the crease around Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard (to prevent Coyotes secondary scoring chances). These three items (shots on goal, pressuring the puck carrier, and crashing the crease around Howard) prevented the Coyotes from generating any form of offense.

Here’s an example of the Wings ‘crashing the crease’ around Jimmy Howard. Note how the Wings players descend around their goaltender when a shot on goal is made:

The Coyotes did not have an answer for this.

It’s now a best of three series with the Coyotes holding home ice advantage. This series is the Coyotes for the taking. The entire team has worked extremely hard to get to this point in the playoffs. It’s all up to the Phoenix Coyotes now to decide if they want to move on in the playoffs or not.

Game Highlights:

Game Summary:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/GS030184.HTM

Event Summary:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/ES030184.HTM

Play by Play:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/PL030184.HTM

Faceoff Stats:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/FC030184.HTM

Shootout Stats:

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20092010/SO030184.HTM

Post game comments from Coyotes Head coach Dave Tippett (Courtesy of PhoenixCoyotes.com):