Coyotes look to rebound from first loss of series

As the old adage goes, it’s not a playoff series until
someone wins on the road.

If true, the Western Conference Semifinals battle between
the Phoenix Coyotes and Nashville Predators is not yet a
playoff series.

The Coyotes, still up in the series 2-1 after dropping a
2-0 decision Wednesday in Nashville, know all they can
really do is bounce back in Friday’s Game 4.

“If we can get that win, you’re going home with a chance
to close out the series,” Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said.

Indeed, all is not lost for the Coyotes. There was a
stretch in Wednesday’s game where they struggled, allowing
a pair of goals within 66 seconds of each other in the
first period, but otherwise played well enough to win.

They were just stonewalled by Nashville goalie Pekka
Rinne, who stopped all 32 shots he faced. That’s not to
say the ‘Yotes feel like they can’t play better.

“I think we all know we’ve got to be better than we were
[Wednesday night],” defenseman Keith Yandle said. “They
brought the intensity and we’ve got to match it if not be
better because especially here at home they’re a good team
that gets the support from the crowd and we’ve got to try
and take them out of it.”

The Coyotes have been a good road team all season, and
they have won at Bridgestone Arena, where the Predators
play their home games.

So, the team has little reason to believe it can’t rebound
from their first loss since April 21 when they take the
ice Friday night.

“Oh yeah, we’ve got to find a way to get a split,” captain
Shane Doan said. “We talked about coming in here how hard
they play at home and how good they are at home and we’ve
got to find a way to win the next one.”

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