Phoenix Looks To Continue Cinderella Run Against Dangerous Detroit

For more, visit our Coyotes blog, Five For Howling, or our Wings blog, Winging It In Motown.

GLENDALE, Arizona (Sports Network) - The Phoenix Coyotes will host their first playoff game in eight years when they welcome the Detroit Red Wings to Jobing.com Arena for Game 1 of the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinals.

This will also be the first playoff game in the brief history of Jobing.com Arena, which opened during the 2003-04 campaign.

The fourth-seeded Coyotes, who are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2002, entered the 2009-10 season as long-shots to qualify for the postseason.

Phoenix went from bankruptcy court to NHL ownership to postseason darlings in the span of an 82-game season that saw the club post franchise marks in wins (50) and points (107). General manager Don Maloney deserves a lion's share of the credit. When Wayne Gretzky stepped down as the club's head coach and director of hockey operations before the season, Maloney went out and got a proven winner to replace "The Great One" in Dave Tippett.

Tippett, who coached Pacific Division rival Dallas before coming to the desert, ranks second in the NHL in wins since the start of 2002-03 with 321, behind only Mike Babcock (325) of Detroit, and could land himself the Jack Adams Trophy as the league's top coach.

Starting late last year, Maloney started adding to a solid core that included veterans Shane Doan, Ed Jovanovski and Ilya Bryzgalov by bringing in the likes of Matthew Lombardi, Scottie Upshall and Radim Vrbata among others. And, Maloney was perhaps the biggest winner at this year's trade deadline, making numerous trades and hitting home runs by adding Wojtek Wolski, Lee Stempniak and Derek Morris in separate pickups.

Phoenix, though, might only go as far as Doan's 33-year-old legs can carry them. A member of the franchise since it was located in Winnipeg, the Coyotes captain logged 18 goals and 55 points while skating in all 82 games.

Doan will have help. In addition to the late-comers, Matthew Lombardi posted 19 goals and 34 assists in 78 games, while Vrbata added a team-leading 24 goals and 43 points in 82 games. Upshall was also contributing nicely with 18 goals in 49 games before going down with a season-ending knee injury.

However, it likely won't be offense that will carry the Coyotes. While they ranked just 24th in the NHL with 211 goals, they allowed the third-fewest goals in the league at 196.

Bryzgalov will man the pipes after a 42-20-6 season that saw him post a 2.29 goals-against average (sixth-best in the league) and .920 save percentage. He also finished second in the NHL with eight shutouts and has been very good in the playoffs before coming over to Phoenix. Bryzgalov got into 16 games with the Ducks in the 2006 and '07 playoffs, going 9-5 with a 1.68 GAA and three shutouts.

While the Coyotes are a surprising playoff team, the only thing shocking about Detroit's 19th straight trip to the postseason is the Red Wings being a fifth seed. The Red Wings, who have won two straight Western Conference titles, had their eight-year run as Central Division champions end this year and enter the postseason lower than a two seed for the first time since a fourth-place finish in 2002.

But, Detroit has momentum on its side, posting a 16-3-2 mark since the league returned from the Olympic break. The Wings also won 10 of the 12 games to close out the regular season.

The Red Wings are also healthy, finally. Johan Franzen managed 21 points in 27 games after missing the first 55 games due to left knee surgery, while Valtteri Filppula, Dan Cleary, Niklas Kronwall, Jason Williams and Kirk Maltby all played in less than 65 games this year. All should be ready to skate in Game 1 tonight.

Injury, as well as offseason losses of Marian Hossa, Mikael Samuelsson and Jiri Hudler, took its toll on Detroit's offense, which finished just 14th with 223 goals scored. After having four 30-goal scorers a year ago, Pavel Datsyuk led the club with 27 goals and was tied with Henrik Zetterberg for the team lead with 70 points.

It wouldn't be Red Wings playoff hockey without Nicklas Lidstrom, a multiple Norris Trophy winner who leads all of this year's playoff participants in postseason games (235) and points (165) while coming in second behind Boston's Mark Recchi with 46 goals.

However, Lidstrom's regular-season point total was down to just 49 this year, his lowest output since 2003-04, while fellow blueliner Brian Rafalski had 42. Still, the duo remain reliable rocks at the blueline, while Brad Stuart, Brett Lebda, Jonathan Ericsson and Kronwall round out a defensive unit that was seventh in goals allowed (207).

The biggest question for the Red Wings could come in goal, where rookie Jimmy Howard enters as the No. 1 over veteran Chris Osgood, and will be making his postseason debut. Howard won the role after going 37-15-10 with a 2.26 GAA and .924 save percentage, winning 10 of his final 11 starts.

It is unknown if Howard will be on a short leash due to his playoff inexperience and Osgood did rebound from a sub par 2008-09 season to lead the Red Wings to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Detroit and Phoenix split four regular-season meetings this year, though both of the Coyotes wins came in overtime. One bright spot for the Coyotes versus the Red Wings was their power play, which clicked at a 26.7 percent in the series.

The Red Wings and Coyotes will be meeting in the postseason for just the third time and first since Detroit eliminated Phoenix in six games in the 1998 conference quarterfinals. Detroit also finished off Winnipeg in six games of the opening round of the 1996 playoffs.

Game 2 of this series is scheduled for Friday night in Phoenix.