Detroit Red Wings dominate Phoenix Coyotes early for 5-2 victory -NHL Update
Detroit knew that if they wanted to win against Phoenix, they would have to take an early lead and maintain in throughout the match, which is exactly what the Red Wings managed to do and defeated the Coyotes by a dominating, 5-2, Thursday night, December
8, 2011, at the sold out Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan, United States.
It looked as if the first 20 minutes were a complete and exclusive offering to the Detroit Red Wings by the Phoenix Coyotes as Todd Bertuzzi, Valtteri Filppula, Tomas Holmstrom, Darren Helm and Jiri Hudler potted five straight to give the home team a commanding
first period lead to work on in the remaining minutes of the contest.
Taylor Pyatt was the only one to give a penalty during the opening period which cost the Coyotes dearly as Detroit did not let any chance go on which they could score.
"Real good start for us. We got them on their heels right away. I thought the guys really had jump," Red Wings coach, Mike Babcock, said. "I would have liked to seen us sustain the game better than we did, but we got good goaltending out of Howie (Jimmy
Howard) in the second and the third."
Radim Vrbata added Phoenix’s first of the night with less than five minutes remaining in the second 20 minute period after they failed to counter back on two power play opportunities.
Martin Hanzal tried to get the Coyotes back into the match with his fourth of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season while capitalising on a power play advantage with Detroit down, Jakub Kindl, who was booked with a minor penalty for holding.
Jimmy Howard blocked 30 of 32 shots he faced on his net during the match which gave Detroit the real boost they needed, knowing that they had a strong goalie in their own defensive end.
"I think we got a really good start, and then were able to keep the lead and win. That's the main thing," said Valtteri Filppula, who was playing his first match since last Tuesday after sustaining a cut on his shin.
Detroit will be looking for another win when they host the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday while Phoenix Coyotes will be hosting the Minnesota Wild the same day.
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