As harrowing as a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven bout ought to be, the Phoenix Coyotes may be undertaking their task to take four straight do-or-die games in the least harrowing fashion.
The interlude between Games 3 and 4 of the Western Conference finals is the longest of the series, namely the only gap lasting more than two full calendar days. The former ended at 8:35 p.m. local time Thursday night and the latter is slated to commence shortly after noon local time on Sunday.
And the two games in question are both being hosted by the opposing Los Angeles Kings. This means there will be none of the 700-mile travel it takes to go to Glendale and back at any point in the 64-plus hours between Thursday’s final horn and Sunday’s faceoff.
In turn, the Coyotes should benefit from being consistently assembled as one under the roof of their Los Angeles hotel.
That just means more quantitative and qualitative time to sweep away the shards from Martin Hanzal’s suspension and other discipline-related unpleasantness stemming from the last two games. It means more time to reassess the man-for-man matchups that have so far worked in t ...
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Article written by Al Daniel
NHL Playoffs 2012: Will the Extra Day Between Games Help Phoenix Coyotes?
May 19th, 2012 by Al Daniel Leave a reply »
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