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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Coyotes slay Preds, book trip to conference final
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Maybe it was an omen.
On the day the Phoenix Coyotes' latest prospective ownership group was introduced to the media, pre-game -- is that three now, or four? -- the National Hockey League's feisty stepchildren took the next big stride in their amazing journey through the Western Conference playoffs.
Second-period goals by Derek Morris and Martin Hanzal, very much against the flow of play, and standout goaltending by Mike Smith lifted the Coyotes to a 2-1 victory that eliminated the Nashville Predators in five games.
It was a joyous scene inside a loud and packed Jobing.com Arena, where the sellout crowd of 17,182 was shown highlights of the news conference with commissioner Gary Bettman and the new ownership face, Greg Jamison, between periods.
But it was a crushing defeat for the Predators, who were seen as a team that might have finally assembled the components to go all the way, until two players who were among the last of those pieces brought in by general manager David Poile helped derail a squad that had been built on hard work, dedication and selflessness.
"I don't think there's a team that's done anything special in sport that hasn't gone through some adversity," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said at the morning skate. "Well, this might be our adversity. How do we respond? There's moments that pass you by. You'll look back 20 years from now and say, 'That was the moment.'"
When the Preds look back, it will be on the moment they learned two of their key offensive forwards, Alexander Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn, had jumped curfew the night before Game 2, leading to Trotz's decision to keep them out of Games 3 and 4.
The Preds scored just two goals in their two home games, lost the latter 1-0, and only reinstated the pair because they were desperate for offence on the brink in Game 5. It didn't help.
Despite a wide edge in play in the first two periods, the Coyotes escaped the first with a scoreless tie, then got the lead on a long screened shot by Morris early in the second period, and stretched it to 2-0 on another just like it, this one by Hanzal, who was set up in the high slot by Kyle Chipchura.
It was that kind of night, and series, for the Predators -- and just the opposite for the opportunistic, counter-attacking Coyotes, who scored timely goals, and just enough of them, to break the Preds' hearts.
Nashville finally broke through in the game's 55th minute when Colin Wilson redirected Legwand's pass from the right-wing boards past Smith's blocker and guaranteed a white-knuckle final 5:59 for the home side, and their fans.
Somehow, they hung on, and Smith nearly capped it with an empty-net goal -- his long, lofted clearance sailing just a foot or two wide.
-- Postmedia News
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 8, 2012 D3
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