After dropping last night’s regular season finale in San Jose, the Phoenix Coyotes finished with the six seed in the Western Conference, which has assured them an opening-round matchup with the Detroit Red Wings.
As many Coyotes fans vividly remember, these same two teams played in a hard-fought series that went the full seven games last spring, with the Red Wings winning in the final game by a score of 6-1.
This year though Detroit will have the home ice as the series starts Wednesday at the Joe Louis Arena.
The Red Wings are led on offense by forward Henrik Zetterberg, who had 24 goals and 56 assists for 80 points in 80 games during the regular season. Starting goaltender Jimmy Howard appeared in 63 games during the regular season, posting a record of 37-37-5 with a 2.79 goals-against-average, a .908 save percentage and a pair of shutouts.
Meanwhile, Captain Shane Doan finished as the Coyotes’ offensive leader with 20 goals and 40 assists for 60 points in 72 games. Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov again posted solid numbers in the regular season, appearing in 68 games and posting a record of 36-20-10, with a 2.48 goals-against-average, a .921 save percentage and seven shutouts.
The Coyotes posted a record of 2-0-2 against Detroit this season.
Regular season results
October 16: Red Wings 2, Coyotes 1 (OT). Game-winning goal: Niklas Kronwall
October 28: Coyotes 4, Red Wings 2. Game-winning goal: Lauri Korpikoski
November 8: Red Wings 3, Coyotes 2 (OT). Game-winning goal: Henrik Zetterberg
March 5: Coyotes 5, Red Wings 4 (SO). Game-winning goal: Radim Vrbata
Series at-a-glance (all times local)
Game 1: Wednesday at Detroit, 4 p.m., VERSUS, CBC
Game 2: Saturday at Detroit, 10 a.m., NBC, CBC
Game 3: April 18 at Phoenix, 7:30 p.m., VERSUS, CBC
Game 4: April 20 at Phoenix, 7:30 p.m., VERSUS, CBC
Game 5: April 22 at Detroit, 4 p.m., VERSUS, CBC
Game 6: April 24 at Phoenix, Time TBA, CBC
Game 7: April 27 at Detroit, Time TBA, CBC
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