The Five for Howling Roundtable: What's Wrong With the Coyotes?

Keep in mind I dont have tv, so I am going off gameday and radio. No way would I have thought this would be a 3-0 series for either team. I thought this series was going 7 games, no matter what.

Which Coyote skater has impressed you the most during the playoffs so far? Which has been the most disappointing?
Doan has really stepped it up, as always. I think he is our sole highlight. I know you said skaters, but without a doubt Bryzgalov has been the most disappointing. He is our best player with or without Doan. I think he has gotten into his head he needs to win 1-0 or 2-1 every night. Does he really miss Z that much? Shouldnt the acquisition of Klesla have taken some of that burden off?

Do you believe any lineup changes would have made a difference in the results of the first three playoff games against the Red Wings?
I wasnt aware there were any changes, but they should have just stuck with what was working in March and in 4 games in April. If it isnt broken, dont fix it.

What do you feel the Coyotes need to do in Game 4 in order to send the series back to Detroit?
I thought Bryz would have had a shutout by now. I thought game 3 he would have seen we were down 2-0 in the series and built a wall. I dont get it with him. He has a Stanely Cup ring, so it shouldnt be the pressure of the playoffs that are getting to him. We have a good defensive system, so that cant really be it. Maybe he is fatigued and isnt telling anyone (although why would he). I had been saying to have Barbs start against eitehr Colorado or Dallas to prevent a potential burnout by Bryzgalov. Was I right?
Other than that, we need to play balls to the wall, take no prisoners. We have nothing to lose at this point. We are playing for pride. If we manage 4 straight wins, that is awesome, but It would be equally awesome if we wore down Detroit and they got swept out of the next round by Nashville.

Take with as many grains of salt as you’d like:

While the Coyotes special teams struggles were documented during the season and mentioned by multiple people in last week’s Roundtable, the team had excelled during even strength play during the season. Any thoughts on why they have struggled during with it thus far in the postseason?

Detroit’s forwards are playing with a lot more aggression getting back on the puck than they did during the regular season. This is helping to slow down the Phoenix Rush and giving the defensemen just a little more time to get back on pucks to help clear them out. I would say that Phoenix’s group of forwards are not cycling as well against the more aggressive in-zone play and, as a result are not making the extra room needed to get the play to the middle of the ice. They’re also being a little overly selective about the shots they’re taking. If Howard is as human as everybody thinks he is, he’s going to give up rebounds. The Phoenix forwards are not getting those kinds of reboundable shots on net and are not getting to those high-traffic areas in time to get the rebounds.

Which Coyote skater has impressed you the most during the playoffs so far? Which has been the most disappointing?

It’s impossible for anybody to say anything other than Shane Doan here for the reasons laid out above (and despite his penalties in game three). I’d also echo that I think Hanzal did a very good job defensively in game three. For disappointments, I’d say that it looks like Ed Jovanovski simply can’t cut it. Yandle is struggling too and, although I’m not sure what the Coyotes’ system looks like when it’s working, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t look like Yandle alone on an island with none of his teammates within 25 feet of him. All of his mistakes have looked like that so far.

Do you believe any lineup changes would have made a difference in the results of the first three playoff games against the Red Wings?

I don’t know about this. I do know that I’m glad the Wings haven’t had to face Derek Morris though.

What do you feel the Coyotes need to do in Game 4 in order to send the series back to Detroit?

They look like they need to trust their goalie and their teammates a little bit more. Detroit’s putting together a team system that makes it very hard to crack, but to just try to push through that is not going to accomplish the job. It’s hard to do when you’re going out to try to “set the tone”, but patience is going to be important. If a play isn’t there, trying to force it is going to lead to mistakes, and that’s what Detroit’s been capitalizing on all series long. Force the Wings to make some mistakes of their own and then jump. Do so decisively.

- Any thoughts on why they have struggled during with it thus far in the postseason?

It doesn’t feel like they’re playing the same Tippet defense th got them to the postseason. It almost seems like they’re trying so hard to be aggressive & make scoring chances that defense has become less of a priority.

Which Coyote skater has impressed you the most during the playoffs so far? Which has been the most disappointing?

Doan. His numbers were one assist behind Datsyuk after Game 2 & it pissed me off to no end to not see any recognition from the broadcasters.

Do you believe any lineup changes would have made a difference in the results of the first three playoff games against the Red Wings?

I was hoping Barbs, BizNasty & Yonkman would have played in Game 3. Seeing that the Wangs had Bryz figured out in the first 2 games would have made me pull him before getting to do or die time. I think the other 2 would have been great to keep the energy going & add more physical presence.

What do you feel the Coyotes need to do in Game 4 in order to send the series back to Detroit?

Go back to a defense first system. Puck control will follow. If they stop giving up 2-3 goals from 75% defense, the 1-2 goals of offense would be plenty.