Phoenix Coyotes set to eliminate Nashville Predators -NHL Playoffs Game 5 Preview
Phoenix Coyotes got that crucial win in Nashville, Tennessee after Game 4 and are now set to eliminate the Predators with a 3-1 lead in the 2012 National Hockey League (NHL) Stanley Cup Western Conference Playoff Semi-Finals come Game 5 at home.
Predators know they have to be better and Game 5 is their last chance to prove it and doing that can only be possible through capitalising on the chances they get but will Mike Smith continue to dominate Nashville in the net is the question.
"There's nowhere to hide. It is what it is," Nashville coach, Barry Trotz, said. "I think during the series we've played well but not well enough to be up 3-1. We haven't buried our chances when we've had lots of chances. We put ourselves in this position,
and we've got to dig ourselves out."
The problem with Phoenix is that they cut the other team some slack after coming out of a huge victory like they did on Wednesday in Game 3. Predators bounced back and shutout Phoenix, 2-0, while Coyotes showed in Game 4 that they were much better than that
with a 1-0 win on their own.
Coyotes faced a similar problem in the quarterfinal series as Chicago Blackhawks took Game 5 with the same situation while Phoenix eliminated them in the next. Phoenix should learn from their mistakes and end the series as early as possible.
"We're aware it's not going to come easy," said Phoenix centre, Antoine Vermette. "We've been there just a couple of weeks ago. They're going to play desperate. That's what we saw with Chicago. You've got to come hard. They're not going to give it to you.”
Alexander Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn are expected to make a comeback on the squad for Game 5 after Nashville realised that they needed all the firepower they could get. Having some of their best forwards back will definitely make a difference in terms
of getting some goals if they manage to break the Mike Smith barrier.
Game 5 is scheduled to begin on Monday, May 7, 2012, at the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Arizona, at 10:00 PM ET.
Prediction:
Phoenix Coyotes eliminate Nashville 3-2.
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