Coyotes are underdogs once again

For the third straight playoff series the Phoenix Coyotes
will enter as underdogs.

Sure, they are the highest seed left in the Western
Conference. And yes, they have had home ice advantage in
each of their first two series.

But even as they prepare for the 8th-seeded Los Angeles
Kings — who the Coyotes beat out for the Pacific Division
crown — they do so with most experts picking against
them.

And quite frankly, that’s fine with them.

“I love it, it’s great,” goalie Mike Smith said. “We’ve
kind of flown under the radar all season long and kind of
snuck into the division championship.

“Now we’re in the conference finals of the Stanley Cup
Playoffs.”

Smith said the team has continued to improve and believes
it deserves to be where it is: four wins away from the
Stanley Cup Finals.

Perhaps the underdog status stems less from the Coyotes as
it does the Kings, who have beaten the top two seeds in
the West to get to this point.

Sure, they may have entered the playoffs as the lowest
seed, but they’re obviously talented enough to play with
the best the NHL has to offer.

But that too does not worry the Coyotes, because whether
they are favored or not, they still have to play the
games.

“You just go out and play your game,” defenseman Keith
Yandle said. “We’re a team, we try to just have fun, play
hard and not worry about everything else that’s going on.”

Arizona Sports’ Craig Grialou contributed to this
report

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