GLENDALE, Ariz. — With the Phoenix Coyotes and Nashville Predators set to open their Western Conference semifinal series Friday at Jobing.com Arena, a common misconception exists that these teams will bring identical styles of play to the ice.
That was probably true of the Predators circa 2010-2011; maybe it was even true of the pre-trade-deadline Predators in 2011-12. But if you were there for these teams’ final meeting in Glendale on March 12, a 5-4 Nashville shootout victory, you saw an entirely different team.
“The one thing about Nashville that people don’t realize is that their skill level is very underrated,” Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. “They’ve got some people — all high-skilled players that are real good.”
The Predators’ last win in Glendale was probably a bit too loosey-goosey for coach Barry Trotz’s tastes. Nashville has tightened the screws considerably since the playoffs began, holding Detroit to nine goals in five games of a first-round series win.
But the addition of forward Mike Fisher at the trade deadline last year and the additions of forwards Andrei Kostitsyn and Alex Radulov late this season have given Nashville the ability to freelance more on offense than any Predators team in recent memory.
That tight-checking Predators club embedded in everyone’s mind finished fourth in the Western Conference in goals this year, a mere 12 goals behind Vancouver and 11 behind Chicago and Detroit. The Predators scored three or more goals 11 times in the final five weeks of the regular season.
“Whenever you have top players, it makes the game a lot easier,” Nashville defenseman Ryan Suter said.
Why? Because top-end skill can create offense more easily for other players, and top-end skill gives you margin for error — the ability to recover from mistakes.
In the Predators’ case, it also gives them a complete lineup.
“I’ve always looked at that franchise as the one that had done the most with the least,” Coyotes general manager Don Maloney said. “Now, you look at them and you wonder: Where are the flaws?”
Nashville had 10 players with 10 or more goals this season, had the fourth-best goal differential in the West and had its goaltender, Pekka Rinne, just named one of three finalists for the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goalie.
That’s why Maloney believes it is imperative that the Coyotes get more from their top point producers in the regular season, wings Radim Vrbata, Ray Whitney and Shane Doan, who have combined for just two goals and six points in the postseason.
It’s one thing to rely on secondary scoring to carry you against a defensively challenged team like the Chicago Blackhawks, whom Phoenix dispatched in the first round. When the opponent’s defense and goaltending are every bit as good as yours, as is the case with Nashville, everyone needs to contribute.
“We’re going to need the guys who drove the bus all season long,” Maloney said. “Those guys have to be our best players in this series, and our power play has to produce.”
Coyotes fans, no doubt, will cringe when they read the latter part of Maloney’s statement. Phoenix’s power play has been a weakness all season, although it did produce four goals against Chicago’s dreadful penalty-killing unit. The fans probably would rather rely on goalie Mike Smith standing on his head while facing record numbers of shots.
But as Coyotes goalie coach Sean Burke cautioned, that approach might carry you for one round in the playoffs, but you won’t be able to sustain it.
“We don’t have the luxury of having those highly talented players, but we have a group of players that everyone is on board with what we’re being taught, what we’re being coached,” Smith said. “The biggest thing about winning in the playoffs is playing as a group and believing in what we’re doing to get us through hockey games. I think that’s what’s made us successful all season.”
Click here for Craig Morgan's breakdown of the series matchups >>
