Coyotes Bite Red Wings

October 10, 2013

The Red Wings were doing almost everything wrong in their game Thursday against the Phoenix Coyotes. Between losing face-offs in their own zone (and pretty much everywhere else), to the basics of hockey (skating, shooting and passing), the Red Wings were out of sync.The Wings went 15-46 on power plays – that calculates to Phoenix having a 64.7% efficiency average in the circle. The Red Wings are a face-off team and control the puck very well in their zone and on offense, but it was not the case in this game.

Skating, shooting and passing were all thrown off by a more energetic, quicker Phoenix team, which slowed the Red Wings down and ultimately led to goals scored by Phoenix in every period.

“We have never been beat like a drum like that at home, ever,” head coach Mike Babcock said in a postgame conversation.

Sounds extreme, but is it? The Red Wings were not their usual selves, and their leaders were not setting an example for younger players.

With Joakim Andersson and Jonathan Ericsson getting the goals for Detroit, one could only wish that the top lines will become more productive.

With two goals allowed in the third period by the Red Wings, this game can be looked upon as a fundamental breakdown.

Hopefully, the Red Wings can go out with more energy, speed, intelligence and most importantly – a willingness to finish the game and win.

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Information from the Detroit Red Wings was used in this report.

For more information on the Detroit Red Wings and NHL hockey from analysts and journalists at Michigan State University – tune into Octopi Hockeytown podcasts and embrace the Spartan debate at www.impact89fm.org/sports

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Austin Goodman is the host of Octopi Hockeytown for Impact Sports

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Scoring Summary:

1st Period:

PHO 2:21 – D. Morris from A. Vermette

2nd Period:

DET 5:07 – J. Andersson from J. Kindl and T. Bertuzzi

DET 6:00 – J. Ericsson (Unassisted)

PHO 7:04 – M. Boedker from D. Morris

3rd Period:

PHO 15:13 – M. Stone from M. Riberio and M. Hanzal