Who will continue Game 1 success?

In 24 hours, either the Kings or the Phoenix Coyotes will be in an unfamiliar situation: trailing in a playoff series. The Kings jumped out to 3-0 leads over Vancouver and St. Louis. Phoenix won Game 1 against Chicago, lost Game 2 and then won the next two games. Against Nashville, Phoenix won the first two games and won the series in five games. So far in this postseason, the team that has won Game 1 has gone on to win nine of the 12 series. The Kings and Coyotes are both 2-0 in Game 1 this postseason, so clearly something has to give. Coyotes coach Dave Tippett certainly will be putting a big emphasis on Game 1, but said he didn’t think it would be the be-all, end-all of the series.

TiPPETT: “Well, I’m not going to worry about after Game 1 till that one’s done, and we’ll see how that one goes. (In) series, you have to make adjustments, momentum-wise, tactical-wise. You kind of read and react to what’s happening. If you looked at the last series, after Game 1, we won, but we weren’t very happy. We went to Game 2 and knew we had to be better. So every series is different, every game is different. I think with both teams having a bit of a layoff here, both teams are going to be anxious to get going. I think Game 1, there’s always a little bit of a feeling-out process. I think everybody will be glad to get Game 1 going and get through it, then we’ll read and react from there.”