Coyotes Deserve Credit for Poor Pens Play

Sami Lepisto (18) says "hello" to Sidney Crosby (87) in 3rd period.

It's been a few hours since the Phoenix Coyotes' 3-0 shutout of defending Stanley Cup champions the Pittsburgh Penguins, and I'm still looking for a game recap that gives the Coyotes at least some above-the-fold credit for taking it to the Pens for 60 minutes.

Instead, paragraph after paragraph drones on and on about the Pens horrible play. How maybe they took the Coyotes too lightly; or were looking ahead to the Philly game and a five-game road trip; or how they just simply could not get untracked. No mention of the aggressive play of the Coyotes. The energy and team-effort you couldn't miss if you watched the game.

Ilya Bryzgalov's shutout was dismissed, as he didn't have to make many "difficult" saves. Wonder why that might have been? Certainly not because anything the Coyotes did to disrupt the Pens play. The checking, the hitting, the poke checks, filling the passing lanes. None of that was relevant. The Pens simply played a bad game.

It's probably still going to take a few weeks of the Coyotes playing this way before the corner will be turned and the hockey world might finally stand up and say, "Damn, these guys aren't too bad." It's only been two games and of course that does not a season make. But this is the second straight game where we've seen a total team effort. Everyone is doing all the little things you need to do to be a successful hockey team. There's certainly no Iginla, Getzlaf, Thornton, Nash, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, or the Sedins on this team, but if the first two games are indicative of the season to come, those superstars may have their work cut out for them when facing the Coyotes.

I've been sitting in seats at AWA and Jobing for years, and never have I seen a Coyotes team that is so team-focused, playing aggressively in all three zones, and looking like they're coming out intending to win and doing it on their terms, rather than hoping to play well enough to not lose and maybe steal a win.

There's a different energy about this team. Some may dismiss it as a "high" coming from knowing they will be playing in Phoenix this year. But those of us who watched the team go 8-4-1 down the stretch, which gave us hope if we could keep the core together.

Not only did General Manager Don Maloney keep the core together -- Doan, Mueller, Upshall, Lombardi, Prucha, Boedker and Hanzal -- he brought in Robert Lang to make it easier for Kyle Turris to mature in the AHL; Radim Vrbata (3G in 2 games) to replace Todd Fedoruk; two-way forwards Lauri Korpikoski and Vernon Fiddler to improve the defense, kill penalties ('Yotes last in the NHL 2008-09), and win some faceoffs (last in that stat, too); and Daniel Winnick, coming off a disappointing past season, came to camp knowing he was not entitled to a job. And since taking the ice in September has shown anyone paying attention that he has no intention of sitting anytime soon. Add Taylor Pyatt to the mix and you have a roster full of forwards, several who are former 1st-round picks, and all still young enough to just start coming into their own.

On defense, Adrian Aucoin, Jim Vandermeer and Sami Lepisto replace Dmitri Kalinin (in the KHL), Ken Klee (retired) and David Hale (Tampa). That's a pretty significant upgrade and one that looks like it is already paying dividends. When Kurt Sauer went out injured last year the Coyotes went on losing streak and could not stop anyone. Again, it's only one game, but with Sauer out tonight Lepisto stepped into his job and you saw the result. And Crosby felt Lepisto's presence, too. By the way, did I mention it was a 3-0 shutout? And that Coyotes have now played 120 minutes of hockey and have not been scored upon when skating at even-strength?

So, it's a 2-0 start and time to start giving some credit where credit is due. The team may be bankrupt, its future in Phoenix in doubt, and a less-than-filled arena is likely until local ownership is found. But it's playing a very exciting brand of hockey, and it's a style we've waited to see for a very long time. I think in hockey parlance it's called playing with a "system." I know I've said that before, and I'll say it many more times as it simply is not something we are familiar with out here.

Game 3 Thursday night in Buffalo, then home for the sold-out season opener on Saturday. If these next two games are played like the first two, maybe people will start noticing that these guys are better than they were given credit for all off-season. And that in the wacky Western Conference, where Detroit, San Jose, Chicago, Calgary and Vancouver are already inked in to the top five spots, the other three are up for grabs. Why not the Coyotes?