Watch Detroit Red Wings vs Phoenix Coyotes Live Online
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Watch Detroit Red Wings vs Phoenix Coyotes Live Online
10:00 pm EDT Thu Oct 22, 2009
10:00 pm EDT Thu Oct 22, 2009
The Detroit Red Wings are off to a relatively slow start, but it’s not entirely surprising considering the injuries to stars Pavel Datsyuk and Johan Franzen. The Phoenix Coyotes’ excellent beginning, on the other hand, can only qualify as shocking. Phoenix looks to win a fourth straight game for the first time in nearly two years Thursday night against the visiting Red Wings, who should have Datsyuk back as they seek their first road victory.
Detroit (3-3-1) has hardly looked like the team that was a bounce or two away from winning a second consecutive Stanley Cup last spring, but a pair of injuries have played a role in their unimpressive start. Franzen tore the ACL in his left knee in an Oct. 8 win over Chicago, leaving him out four months, and Datsyuk has missed the team’s past two games due to an upper-body injury. Datsyuk is expected to return Thursday, but he may have a difficult time scoring his first goal since Game 2 of the Red Wings’ Western Conference quarterfinal series against Columbus. Phoenix (5-2-0) has been the league’s stingiest team in the early going, yielding 10 goals in seven games and holding opponents to one goal in their last 21 power-play opportunities.
Defensemen Ed Jovanovski and Keith Yandle scored with the man advantage for the Coyotes on Saturday in a 4-1 home win over Boston. A victory over the Red Wings would give Phoenix its first four-game win streak since winning five in a row from Dec. 31, 2007-Jan. 8, 2008. The Coyotes’ best start since going 6-1-0 to open the 2000-01 season has put a tumultuous offseason—featuring coach Wayne Gretzky resigning and a rumored move out of Phoenix—in the rear-view mirror.
