|
Game Three: A Storm of Swords (Shaw gets three) |
|
|
|
|
|
Andrew Shaw has been suspended three games for his hit on Mike Smith. I think that is extremely stupid and unwarranted. He deserved his penalty and I would even go so far as say he deserved his game misconduct. This was not a suspendable hit, even if Smith had been injured on the play. That should have been the end of it, nobody likes to see goalies hit in the head, but this was a minor incident. The wheel of justice spins and it lands on injustice. Pretty lame.
The Coyotes enter game three in an interesting position. Unlike last season’s disastrous sweep at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings in which the Coyotes continuing their trend were dreadful at home. The past two seasons had seen them lose five straight playoff games at home. Overall this squad has been better on the road and that trend followed this year. The team was 20-14-7 away from Jobing.com and have been an impressive 4-1-1 at the United Center these past three seasons. The team really prides itself as a road warrior style team that can play its game even without the advantage of preferable line changes. Having said that you know the UC will be louder than ever and will certainly continue its tradition of having some of the best atmosphere of any building in the playoffs. The Hawks are in general an excellent team at home; they went 27-8-6 which is the third best home record in the playoffs. I think it will be a tough game and one in which the Coyotes will need to both weather the storm early on and set the tone with their physicality.
"We play a very similar game both home and on the road," Tippett said. "We are a hard-working, tight-checking, grind-it-out team -- and sometimes that's the best answer in the road.
Keys to the Game:
Without the benefit of home ice, line changes will be even more critical. Tippett will need to get Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Rostislav Klesla on the ice against the Toews line every single time. Klesla has really made Marian Hossa ineffective so far in the series and is playing him very tightly. OEL is simply the best defenseman on the team and needs to play against the opponent’s best in all situations.
The PK, it needs to remain strong and stop the Hawks from setting up. In the final penalty kill of Game Two the Hawks had sustained pressure for what seemed to be the first time. They hemmed them in for a good minute and a half and the fatigue was very obvious. You can’t let a team with so much skill have that kind of time as they’ll burn you at some point.
Raffi Torres has been one of the best Coyotes all series. He has provided some physicality while also showing excellent speed and chemistry with Shane Doan. He’s a hot head, but has kept his game clean and effective. There’s no reason to cross over the line while he’s playing such an important role. Torres-Vermette-Doan will be leaned on again.
Lessons hopefully learned from the first two games. In the final minute of the game, triple team Patrick Kane and double team Brent Seabrook. Seriously, I doubt anybody else could manage to do anything in that situation. Every time Kane touches the puck when the Hawks desperately need a big play I cringe, because three seconds later the puck is in the net. They can’t afford to take their feet off the pedal at any time. I’m just surprised that when down a man on a 5 on 4 situation they are unbeatable, then when it’s 6 on 5 they cave...explain that one
Ray Whitney needs to step up. He has been contained by the Hawks so far and the team’s leading scorer has been far from impressive. Hopefully a healthy Vrbata and Hanzal will give him the comfort and familiarity he needs.
Injury News:
A great sign is that all three players that were question marks after Game Two health-wise seem to be healthy. There is no official confirmation as to their individual conditions, but Lauri Korpikoski (Will remain out for cautionary reasons), Martin Hanzal and Mike Smith were all present and practicing at the morning skate in Chicago.
Some wondered if Mike Smith had indeed suffered a concussion from the hit by Shaw, but it’s looking more and more like he will get the start, which is great news since without him they might as well just give up. Dave Tippett has still referred to him as a game time decision, but that’s his answer to practically any media question before a game. They are still waiting for news on Andrew Shaw’s disciplinary hearing. Which I’ll say again before anybody misconstrues things, will likely result in nothing and at worst a small fine. Seriously though NHL, just make a decision already and quit holding up the news. The sooner the issue is dealt with (regardless of any decision) the sooner the teams can become 100% focused and can prepare.
The more serious concerns were around Martin Hanzal. He’s had an injury plagued year hurting his wrist twice, his shoulder once and his foot throughout the year. He’s an integral piece of the team and they can ill afford to lose their number one center. Especially since Antoine Vermette has been so great when getting away from Keith-Seabrook to face the Hawks depth defenders. In a nutshell that is one of the only ways they will beat Chicago, they need to force the play on their bottom four as much as possible as their top pairing is in 30 minute of 99% flawless hockey a night mode.
Keep them to the outside on the rush and force the Hawks to make their own mistakes.
Can’t wait, puck drops at 9:00pm EST, 6pm Pacific and 9:00am in Orenburg.
Thanks for reading.
Follow me on Twitter @AdamFrenchReal
Join the Discussion:
»