We knew it was only a matter of time before some Detroit-loving dickhead chucked a dead octopus on the ice during the first round of the NHL playoffs; we just thought it would happen in Detroit.
That was not the case, though. Before the Phoenix Coyotes 3-2 playoff win over the Detroit Red Wings last night, a Motor City fan brought one of the Red Wings' oldest traditions to Glendale -- hurling a dead octopus on the rink and briefly interrupting the pre-game warmups.
All the octopi in Motown couldn't stop the Coyotes usually dreadful power-play, though, which propelled the Yotes over the Red Wings.
All three of the Howlers goals in last night's win came during power plays -- the one area of the Coyotes game that, to put it politely, needed some work.
"Took us 82 games to set that good trap," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett joked after the game.
If it was a trap, they certainly had us fooled, but a Derek Morris rocket from the point for the Coyotes third power-play goal of the game, which ultimately was the game-winner, definitely made believers of us when it comes to the Coyotes power-play's ability to score goals.
Aside from the power-play, the other big news from the game is Coyotes captain Shane Doan.
Doan, who finally put an end to a 23-game scoreless streak last week, had nine hits in last night's game, and we're not talking about baby hits -- the dude was crushing people.
Doan didn't score, but was on a rampage, taking out defenders and creating opportunities for other Coyotes to score.
His trail of mayhem included getting called for a bullshit charging penalty after laying out Red Wings defender Niklas Kronwall behind the Detroit net.
It was a clean hit, but after the first period, when the momentum had clearly shifted in favor of the Coyotes -- much in part to Doan's rampage -- the referees seemed to want to offer the boys from "Hockey Town" as much help as they could.
About two minutes before the garbage call on Doan, Adrian Aucoin was called for an equally shitty, interference call after an Oscar-worthy performance by the alleged victim of his offense, Pavel Datsyuk.
Datsyuk played the role of "pussy" in last night's performance, and he played it well.
The call came after Aucoin shadowed Datsyuk as he crashed the net. Aucoin barely touched him, but Datsyuk caught his leg on the right goalpost and hit the ice, writhing in pain. He was fine once he got up but he seemed to have left an impression on the officials.
The sympathetic refs, who after calling a total of 12 penalties seem to need a lesson in "playoff hockey," fell for Datsyuk's performance and sent Aucoin to the box.
Bad calls and an octopus weren't enough to stop the Coyotes, though. The Howlers' defense played well, for the most part, and, after struggling in the first period, managed to shut down the Red Wings offense.
The teams hit the ice next for game two of the series tomorrow night. The puck drops at 7 p.m., and the game can be seen on Versus. For more information on the Coyotes, click here.
