Phoenix Coyotes on track to ousting Chicago Blackhawks in Game 5 -NHL Playoffs Preview
Phoenix Coyotes are confident, dangerous and confident about their chances of eliminating Chicago Blackhawks and moving to the next round of the 2012 National Hockey League (NHL) Stanley Cup Playoffs Western Conference series to face-off with Nashville Predators
in the semi-finals.
Each and every game has gone into overtime during the Chicago-Phoenix quarterfinal series and seeing how Coyotes have had a major advantage in the past three of four contests and having a 3-1 lead overall, their chances are just too good to ignore.
Chicago on the other hand, has not seen much success as they are near elimination, which would be the for the second straight time in the past three seasons after winning a 2010 Stanley Cup championship in 2010.
Blackhawks did put up a fight against 2011 finalists, the Vancouver Canucks, by putting up a Game 7 contest but this time around, their chances do not look so convincing.
"Our top guys have to be better for us to be successful going forward," Chicago coach, Joel Quenneville, said Friday before the team left for Phoenix. "We need them to be our best players, for sure."
Mikkel Boedker hopes to continue winning games for his team as the forward has potted two overtime game-winners in the past two matchups, something which has his team at ease when heading into a post-regulation contest.
"The kid's unbelievable; he's hot right now," goalie, Mike Smith, said. "He's taken advantage of his opportunities, and we need that from a lot of guys, and he's one of those guys that has all the talent and all the skill to be a top player in this League."
With a goalie like Mike Smith, Phoenix could not, not be confident and heading into the next game with a chance of moving on they will definitely be giving it their all and actually want the contest to go into overtime.
"It would be huge," said Phoenix captain, Shane Doan. "It's not going to hurt us, that's for sure.”
Game 5 of the Phoenix-Chicago quarterfinal series is set to kick off on Saturday, April 21, 2012, at the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Arizona, at 10:00 PM ET.
Prediction
Phoenix will take the match in regulation with a one or more goal differential.
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