Coyotes Come Back To Beat The Redwings In Shoot Out

Added on Mar 06, 2011 by J Merrill in

NHL

Down by 3 goals after forty minutes of playing, and 20 minutes from their 6 streaight loss, the Phoenix Coyotes rallied for their biggest win of the season against the Redwings. After they tied it up with 1:27 left in the game, the Jobing.com arena went crazy, and the Coyotes were able to put the tough Redings away in the shootout.

Martin Hanzal, who went against doctors orders and played anyway, got the goal that even the game. “I was very close (to not playing), but I’m glad I did. I was talking to the doctor and he was doing some tests on me and I was told I shouldn’t play. I took the warmup and I was feeling pretty good and I gave it a try. I was struggling at first but I was getting better every shift and I knew I could play my game.”

Coyotes captain was inspired by his team. He said “It was like the scene in that Monty Python movie where the guy is screaming ‘Bring out your dead, bring out your dead’ and finally we decided to scream out that we’re not dead yet. We had a lot of chances in the first two periods, but nothing was going right for us. When you’ve lost five in a row, it’s hard to keep going. Everyone in the room kept going, and that’s the only way you can come back to win a game like this.”

Phoenix coach Dave Tippett said he was worried about the speed of the Redwings, and that is where a lot of teams fall short. He said “The one thing they can do is play with pace and when you play against Detroit, you know they are going to play fast. Our kids jumped in and played well together.”

Redwings coach Mike Babcock said he thought his team was much to comfortable with the lead they had going in the third. “Let’s be honest, the score of the game early flattered us. There is a way to play to be successful, we know it, but until we get our heads around doing it, we’re not going anywhere. I think the team that worked the hardest the longest time won. There gets to be a point in your season where you’ve got to decide if you think you’re a championship-caliber team. There is a right way to play, and unless you get 23 guys doing it the same way, nothing is going to happen.”

The Detroit Redwings 39-19-8 (86 pts.), who are 1st in Central Division will face the L.A. Kings (36-25-4, 76pts) on Wednesday night in Detroit. The Phoenix Coyotoes 34-23-10(78 pts.,) who are 2nd in Pacific Division, will face the Vancouver Cannucks (41-16-9, 91pts) on Tuesday night.