Playing against an upper echelon team, one has to play better than the best – 100% is not good enough, 110% will do – the best players have to showcase their skills and talents to match the other team's talented players that work just as hard, if not harder.

Unfortunately, a very small percentage of the Phoenix Coyotes players stepped up and showed up. It seems that most of the team was content to let goaltender Curtis Joseph face 48 shots and stop 44 and allow the same players give everything they have for a shot for the post season while riding along and looking at the scenery. Who are those players that put everything they had into this game? Look back through the past week because those names are the same as tonight's contributors.

The Red Wings were able to employ their swarming defense and control the puck on their terms. Even though the Coyotes dictated the pace for the first 20 minutes and forced the Red Wings to skate 200 feet when they had the puck, the Red Wings took over the rest of the game in a sleeper hold that even Hulk Hogan could not break.

I wanted the Coyotes to beat this Red Wings team and give Joseph the victory against the man who replaced him in Detroit. Night in and night out, Joseph has played his best hockey while in a Coyotes sweater and tonight his teammates were not able to return the favor.

The same players are checking, the same players are blocking shots, the same players are making saves, and the same players are getting their noses dirty by knocking their opponents into next week. It is the same type of game that earns them victories and each time they play it, they have an excellent shot at winning. When all the players do not contribute, the team falls apart.

The Coyotes get a little break as they travel to Florida as their next game is Saturday against the Panthers. Hopefully, the best team will arrive and play their best on the ice.

Original post by PB and software by Elliott Back

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