Power play failing to come through in series

--Up 1-0 in the third period, the Coyotes had three different power-play chances -- all courtesy of Viktor Stalberg penalties. Stalberg had four minors on the night, the only Blackhawk to visit the Sin Bin in the game.

But the Coyotes came up dry each time, and got only five shots in eight minutes of power-play time. They are now 2-for-15 in the series, and for a team that isn't generating many shots in 5-on-5 hockey, that's a problem.

"We hadn't generated a lot in the game. You'd like to see your power play go out there and build some momentum for you," Phoenix Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. "We struggled with our execution on it."

With Lauri Koprikoski back in the lineup, Tippett switched up his lines in hopes of getting something that would click. But leading goal scorer Radim Vrbata, still scoreless in the series, didn't get much going with new linemates Antoine Vermette and Taylor Pyatt (two shots), while leading point-producer Ray Whitney came up empty playing with Daymond Langkow and Shane Doan.

"We were kind of tweaking things," Tippett said. "Then we kind of lost a couple players for a bit of time (during the game), so you're just filling roles there, trying to get people to fill in."

--The comparisons to 1999, the last time the Coyotes had a 3-1 lead in a playoff series against the St. Louis Blues, continue to pile up.

The Blues, who stormed back to win the final three games of the series, won Game 5 in Phoenix. They won 2-1. In overtime -- on a goal by Scott Young. And they rallied from a 1-0 deficit.

That was 13 years ago. One of 13 straight playoff series the Coyotes have lost since last winning in 1989. Jonathan Toews, who scored the game-winning goal in Game 5 for the Blackhawks Saturday, has 13 letters in his name -- as does Pierre Turgeon, who scored the game-winner in overtime in Game 7 back in 1999 to beat the Coyotes 1-0.

And who was the coach of the 1999 St. Louis Blues? Joel Quenneville, the current coach of the Blackhawks.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"I felt confident in our group going into the third period. I thought we were going to be able to close it out and shut them down and get the win in front of our home fans. But you have to give them credit; they play hard and fought to the end. We just have to be better all-around." -- Phoenix D Keith Yandle.

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