Here we go again! Sittin at .500 and tryin to get on a roll during this 4 game homestand. Thurs game against the Caps was not only fun, it was a revelation. We still didn’t play an entire 60 minutes (the second period was seriously slow, luckily the Caps were flat too) but we came back hard and furious despite missing Tiki who has definitely become a key member of our elite WTH? shut down line.
Match their intensity my ass. We gotta have MORE than them. That will be the key. We have to want it more than they do. We gotta try to run Kipper out of the net, stand Iggy up in the neutral so he can’t kite around thru the middle. Beat their defense up as much as possible and make sure lil Cammaleri doesn’t slink thru and bite us either. I know that is a LOT to ask for but it is possible (when we managed to contain the Caps, is anything impossible for our boys at home?)
The same keys to the game apply in this game… only the names change and some added talent calibre. This time its bad ass power forward war w/ Iginla and Doaner head to head for leadership and taking over a game. Its Phaneuf on the back end who can score and knock the hell out of you and will throw down at the drop of a hat. The addition of Sir Cammaleri from the Kings adds a dimension of stealth that the Flamers didn’t have before. Instead of all bang and crash ugly scoring, Cam adds some extra danger to their scoring arsenal.
Containment- Stop Iginla from making the game go his way. NO space! NO time! He can take tenths of a second and make them seem like years. Do NOT give Phaneuf a shooting lane. Frankenhead Phaneuf can make goalies cry with that monster shot of his. Sir Cam cannot be alowwed to canoodle around in our zone, he’s good at zipping around playing keep away… feed him some boards and make him keep looking over his shoulder.
Volume - 1 goal games are fine as long as you are on the winning end. Much better to get something from each of the big vet offensemen (JV played so well against the Caps, it’d sure be nice to see him get his first of the year tonight) and a throw in from a couple of the youngins…get the game out of reach and don’t let off the pedal (the Flamers hijacked a 0 – 3 game last night and came away with a 5 – 3 win) we don’t wanna be that statistic tonight. We have to play these guys all 60 minutes, Kipper needs to thnk its raining pucks (I wonder if Doaner splits another puck and both pieces go in the net will both count as goals?) LOL Peter Mueller! move your damn feet! Spectacular things happen when you do boyo.
Netminding Miracle - Ask and ye shall receive. We asked Telly to give us a fighting chance… he did more than that. The boy practically turned himself inside out for us. I hate to ask for more but tonight its going to be another hellfight and Telly will have to survive the first moments until we get our legs movin. It sure would be sweet if Tells can establish himself as more than just a premiere ‘back up’ goalie… maybe this is the year Telly gets his consistency issues under control? How sweet this win could be. Go Telly!
http://coyotes.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=388401
http://coyotes.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=Preview&seas=20082009>ype=2&gnum=119
graphics provided by Q of the P6P – thnx Qbert
