Western Conference Quarter Finals Preview: Phoenix Coyotes vs. Chicago Blackhawks

This may be one of the weirdest looking series we will see in the first round. Yes, that is not a typo, the Coyotes, who have seemed to be playing for a city that no longer wants them, have won the Pacific Division title, and will host the Chicago Blackhawks.

#3 Phoenix Coyotes 42-27-17, 97 PTS vs. #6 Chicago Blackhawks 45-26-11, 101 Points.

Game 1: At Phoenix 10:00PM EDT-

Game 2: At Phoenix 10:00PM EDT-

Game 3: At Chicago 9:00PM EDT-

Game 4: At Chicago 8:00PM EDT-

*Game 5: At Phoenix 10:00PM EDT-

*Game 6: At Chicago TBD

*Game 7: At Phoenix TBD

Yes the Coyotes, the team who has been linked to moving to every city north of the US border found a way to bring home a Division Championsip and the 3rd seed for the playoffs.  The Blackhawks were inconsistent all year for their standards, but still managed a 101 point season.

Forwards

Radim Vrbata (35G 27A), Ray Whitney (24G 53A) and Shane Doan (22G 28A) are the power for the Yotes, and they bring a ton of experience to the table. They will have to continue using that experience if they are to get past the Hawks in round 1.

Jonathan Towes has been out with a concussion but has practiced at the beginning of this week. Without him the Hawks could struggle against this Yotes team. With Marian Hossa, Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp, the Hawks can replace Towes' stats, but his lack of leadership could hurt them in the long run.

Edge: Hawks. Even without Towes, the Hawks can still be explosive.

Defense

Oliver Ekman-Larson and Kieth Yandle lead the way for the Yotes on the blue line, especially offensively.  Derek Morris and Adrian Aucoin are the journey men on the back end for the Yotes, with both of them playing over 1,000 NHL games.  

The Hawks got deeper at the blue line when they added Johnny Oduya to their core of Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook. Nikals Hjaalmarsson and Nick Leddy also factor into a blue line that will be deep enough to give the Hawks the edge in this category.

Goalies

Mike Smith (38-18-10, 2.21 GAA, .930SV%) will get the start between the pipes for Phoenix. Corey Crawford (30-17-7, 2.72 GAA, .903 SV%) is likely to get the go for the Hawks, but Ray Emery (15-9-4, 2.81 GAA, .900 Sv%) is one slip-up away from being Chicago's number one.

Yotes have the edge even though no goalie in this series will steal enough wins on their own to move on. 

Special Teams

The Yotes rank 29th on the power play (13.6%) and 8th on the PK (85.5%). The Hawks rank 26th on the power play (15.2%) and 27th on the PK (78.1%)

The Yotes take the edge. If Towes cannot play early in the series, the Hawks power play may not be a threat.

POFA's Prediction

Hawks in 7. The Yotes will have a ton of confidence coming into the series having won their division, but the Hawks are still an explosive team. If Towes comes back early, this one might be over before game 7 is even a possibility.