It never ceases to amaze what players and fans can accomplish together to put a charge of energy and vitality into a team on life support in its playoff series.
There is more reason for Coyotes fans to take heart -- prospective owner Matthew Hulsizer, rocking some white team gear, is in the house at Jobing.com Arena. Speculation is that Hulsizer is in town for a rumored meeting with representatives of the Goldwater Institute, which threatens a lawsuit to block the city of Glendale's sale of bonds to meet the requirements of a lease agreement with Hulsizer.
The fact that Hulsizer is here indicates he might still want to buy the Coyotes -- currently owned and operated by the NHL-- and keep them here in the desert.
At least the Coyotes are giving him and the fans a show. The Detroit Red Wings scored first but the Coyotes rallied to take a 2-1 lead, and it is tied at 2 after the first period of Game 4.
Tomas Holmstrom opened the scoring at the 16:13 mark. Center Pavel Datsyuk stick-handled into the middle and flipped a pass from behind his back to Holmstrom, who's shot beat Ilya Bryzgalov.
It seemed as if the Red Wings had sucked the life out of the white pom-pom waving crowd yet again, but the Coyotes got their act together. Taylor Pyatt's shot from the wing glanced off a Detroit player's skate and into the net to make it 1-1 with 14:14 to play.
Shane Doan's third goal goal of the series came at 10:14 of the first. Center Kyle Turris did the hard work, getting the puck to Doan for the shot again from goaltender Jimmy Howard's left that trickled over the goal line to make it 2-1.
The Coyotes couldn't take a lead into the first intermission, though, as Patrick Eaves beat Bryzgalov with a tip-in on a centering pass from Darren Helm with 1:13 to play in the period.
Bryzgalov has stopped some big shots and looks to be playing with more confidence. The Coyotes will open the second period on their first power play.
It's not a bad time for Motley Crue's "Dr. Feelgood," which was played in between periods.