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Wait, DON'T let them score on the power play? Got it.

Jimmy taking a nap while Patrick Eaves has guard duty.
Jimmy taking a nap while Patrick Eaves has guard duty.

Normally I hate resorting to bullet list analysis but it keeps me from rambling so here we go.

  • It's not like the penalty kill was getting worked over with continuous shots and pressure. It was a simple case of a few good shots and more defensive lapses than I would like to think. Example 1: On Yandle's goal from the point, Howard had Doan in front of him and was there any Red Wing defender even bothering him? Nope. Howie got caught trying to peek around Doan, 1 for 1 on the PP. Example 2: Wojtek Wolski gets free and no defender pressures Yandle on the pass and no defender is home to stop Wolski, 2/2. Example 3: The final power play goal comes off of a lost face-off and a falling Darren Helm can't make it to the point to defend the shot.
  • Well hey, at least no one was a minus in the game! Unfortunately. 
  • Johan Franzen, Henrik Zetterberg, and Pavel Datsyuk have to be the top guys for Detroit. I know it's hard to judge them on one game and I'm not doing that either. Simply stating that with the smothering way that the Coyotes are forechecking, they need to be the guys that step up and take care of the puck and create offense.
  • If there's anything good to take away from last night's game its' that other than the man advantage, the Coyotes couldn't really do squat on offense. They had a handful of chances but it was nothing compared to the even strength chances the Red Wings had. If the Wings can play better on the PK, they might not have all that much difficulty with the Phoenix attack.
  • Brad Stuart seemed to be the only one that cared about hitting back last night. Stuart had a couple of rattling hits in open ice while everyone else just stood around and let Shane Doan bowl them over. Wings can't let that old thought process of being bullied out apply to this year's version of the team. 
  • Following up on that last part, get Abdelkader in there over Williams. Gator will at least hit people and be active instead of not really doing much of anything as Willy did last night. 
  • Wonder how much further Shane Doan will have to push to get a push back?
  • Last night's loss wasn't the end of things. There's plenty of time to turn around things and no need to panic. Completely erase the memory of last night's game and start over. Babcock will get these guys readjusted and get them to move better through the neutral zone and once they're in the zone.
  • Jimmy Howard looked solid last night but was hung out to dry by the PK unit (as discussed before). He didn't give up that many juicy rebounds and didn't really looked to pressured by his first NHL playoff game. Expect Howie to keep his mind in this game but he needs some help around him first.