’11-’12 Coyotes (via azcentral.com)

The top-seeded ’11-’12 Coyotes were less than a minute away from taking a 1-0 series lead, but with 54 seconds left, Keith Tkachuk tied the game for the 5th-seeded ’97-’98 Coyotes. That forced overtime where Shane Doan won it just two minutes and 19 seconds into the overtime to give the ’11-’12 Coyotes the win they were close to having earlier. Doan then scored a hat trick in Game 2 and added an assist to lead the ’11-’12 Coyotes to a 5-3 win and a 2-0 series lead. The ’97-’98 Coyotes scored two goals in the first and second periods of Game 3 to hold a 4-0 lead going into the third with Rick Tocchet scoring two of them. The ’11-’12 Coyotes got a natural hat trick from Raffi Torres in the third in a span of just over 10 minutes, but the ’97-’98 Coyotes held on for the 4-3 win.

The ’97-’98 Coyotes then held a 4-3 lead after two periods in Game 4. Then, Ray Whitney and Martin Hanzal each scored in the middle of the third to give the ’11-’12 Coyotes a 5-4 lead. Dallas Drake scored with two plus minutes left for the ’97-’98 Coyotes and forced the second overtime game of the series. Then, a little over three minutes into the overtime, Tkachuk scored to tie the series up 2-2 for the ’97-’98 Coyotes. 12 players then registered a point in Game 5 for the ’11-’12 Coyotes as they won 5-2. Whitney registered two assists and Kyle Turris potted two goals as they were the only two of the 12 to total more than one point. After both team’s scored two goals in the first period of Game 6, the ’11-’12 Coyotes dominated play in the final two periods and ended the series with a 5-2 win. Hanzal and Radim Vrbata both scored two goals to lead the offensive charge.

GAME 1:

GAME SUMMARY:  ’11-’12 PHX – 5   ’97-’98 PHX – 4   (OT)   (1-0   ’11-’12 PHX)

STARS OF THE GAME:

1st Star: RW – Shane Doan (’11-’12 PHX) – 3 G   0 A   3 P   +2   8 S

2nd Star: LW – Keith Tkachuk (’97-’98 PHX) – 4 G   0 A   4 P   +2   15 S   4 PIM

3rd Star: G – Nikolai Khabibulin (’97-’98 PHX) – OTL   5.00 GAA   .919 SV% (57 SV’s)

GAME 2:

GAME SUMMARY:  ’11-’12 PHX – 5   ’97-’98 PHX – 3   (2-0   ’11-’12 PHX)

STARS OF THE GAME:

1st Star: RW – Shane Doan (’11-’12 PHX) – 3 G   1 A   4 P   +4   11 S

2nd Star: LW – Lauri Korpikoski (’11-’12 PHX) – 1 G   2 A   3 P   +3   7 S

3rd Star: G – Nikolai Khabibulin (’97-’98 PHX) – L   5.00 GAA   .914 SV% (53 SV’s); Replaced by backup Jimmy Waite at the 9:05 mark of the third period

GAME 3:

GAME SUMMARY:  ’97-’98 PHX – 4   ’11-’12 PHX – 3   (2-1   ’11-’12 PHX)

STARS OF THE GAME:

1st Star: C – Jeremy Roenick (’97-’98 PHX) – 1 G   3 A   4 P   +1   8 S

2nd Star: LW – Raffi Torres (’11-’12 PHX) – 3 G   0 A   3 P   +3   5 S   2 PIM

3rd Star: RW – Rick Tocchet (’97-’98 PHX) – 2 G   0 A   2 P   +1   3 S

GAME 4:

GAME SUMMARY:  ’97-’98 PHX – 6   ’11-’12 PHX – 5   (OT)   (2-2)

STARS OF THE GAME:

1st Star: C – Jeremy Roenick (’97-’98 PHX) – 2 G   1 A   3 P   +1   10 S   2 PIM

2nd Star: LW – Keith Tkachuk (’97-’98 PHX) – 2 G   1 A   3 P   Even   9 S

3rd Star: LW – Ray Whitney (’11-’12 PHX) – 1 G   2 A   3 P   +1   10 S

GAME 5:

GAME SUMMARY:  ’11-’12 PHX – 5   ’97-’98 PHX – 2   (3-2   ’11-’12 PHX)

STARS OF THE GAME:

1st Star: C – Kyle Turris (’11-’12 PHX) – 2 G   0 A   2 P   +2   4 S

2nd Star: LW – Brad Isbister (’97-’98 PHX) – 1 G   1 A   2 P   +2   2 S

3rd Star: C – Daymond Langkow (’11-’12 PHX) – 1 G   1 A   2 P   +1   3 S

GAME 6:

GAME SUMMARY:  ’11-’12 PHX – 5   ’97-’98 PHX – 2   (4-2   ’11-’12 PHX)

STARS OF THE GAME:

1st Star: C – Martin Hanzal (’11-’12 PHX) – 2 G   0 A   2 P   +3   10 S

2nd Star: RW – Radim Vrbata (’11-’12 PHX) – 2 G   0 A   2 P   -1   10 S

3rd Star: G – Nikolai Khabibulin (’97-’98 PHX) – L   5.00 GAA   ,900 SV% (45 SV’s); Replaced by backup goaltender Jimmy Waite at the 9:13 minute mark of the third period;

Up next is the 6-7 matchup between the ’01-’02 Coyotes and the ’99-’00 Coyotes!