Phoenix Coyotes' realise they need to learn from mistakes after Game 1 loss -NHL Playoffs Update
It was a disappointing situation as Phoenix Coyotes were dominated by Los Angeles Kings in the opening game of the 2012 National Hockey League (NHL) Stanley Cup Playoffs Western Conference Finals on Sunday, May 13, 2012, 4-2.
The loss just did not come out of the blue but there were some major reasons why Phoenix could not keep up with the Kings throughout the contest.
Giving up the lead and being dominated in the opening period was just the start of their woes along with giving them nearly 50 chances, 17 more than what they had on Jonathan Quick.
"They came out flying in the first period and we were frozen we couldn't get out of our own end," Phoenix winger, Lauri Korpikoski, said. "We have to be more physical and aggressive on their defense and put more pressure on them. It's all well to hang in
there, but you can't win a lot of games by just hanging in there.”
Phoenix might have had it easy going up against Chicago Blackhawks in the quarterfinals and Nashville Predators in the next round, but now as the competition continues to get intense in the conference finals, they know adjusting their game is the only way
to go.
"We got beat in every facet of the game," Phoenix coach, Dave Tippett, said. "As the playoffs go on, the bar gets higher and higher. You have some players that can rise with the bar and we didn't have enough guys rise with the bar tonight.”
Coming into Game 1 with the same strategy clearly did not work for Phoenix as they gave too many penalties along with attempts on their net. Being a defensive team, Coyotes cannot be reluctant in changing their game to a little more offence now because Los
Angeles is a team that is bound to score at every open opportunity.
It will definitely be interesting to see whether Phoenix Coyotes can change around their game play to the point of giving Los Angeles Kings a hard time trying to squeeze through to their net.
Game 2 is scheduled for Tuesday in Phoenix.
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