The sports betting online experts were not really sure what to make of the first round series matchup between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Phoenix Coyotes. The concept behind it was pretty cut and dry. The Blackhawks cannot play defense and have good but not great goaltending. Chicago excels at playing offense and bases its entire game plan around offense. The Coyotes play excellent defense and have extremely strong goaltending. But Phoenix relies on crashing the net to score goals and relies very little on finesse. If you bet on sports, then you call this the unstoppable force meets the immovable object.

Underneath all of this was another clich?that seems to prove true every year. That is "offense sells tickets but defense wins championships." When the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup, it was over flowing with defensive talent. After the Cup win, Chicago released most of the talent in a salary cap purge. The Phoenix Coyotes were able to shut down the Blackhawks and move on in the playoffs.

Offense
The Phoenix Coyotes will never bowl an opposing team over with its offense. Of the six games played in the series with the Blackhawks, five of them were decided by one goal. None of the games in the series saw either one of the teams score more than four goals in a game. Then the Coyotes pulled off the ultimate clinching game by beating Chicago 4-0 in the series closer. It was the Coyotes' way of showing the league that it could play offense as well as defense. But the Coyotes will need real goal production if it is going to beat teams like Nashville or St. Louis as the playoffs move on. The only team that the Phoenix offense matches up with in the second round is the Los Angeles Kings. But the Kings are also the best defensive team in hockey.

Defense
The sports betting world stood up and paid attention to Phoenix goalie Mike Smith this season. Smith was always a promising goaltending prospect, but he was never given the chance to blossom into a starter. Phoenix gave him that chance and now the team is reaping the rewards of a good decision. But it is not just Smith that makes Phoenix tough on defense. The Phoenix defensive unit is big and punishing. These guys can also skate and score goals. This is a championship defense backing up a decent offense. That is not a combination which will go far in the playoffs.

Summary
No matter who Phoenix plays in the second round, the online sportsbook experts are not going to give the Coyotes much of a chance. But Phoenix is not that far away from being a serious Cup contender. It just needs that one scoring line that puts fear in the opposing defense. Until then, Phoenix is a good playoff team that is probably going to be in over its head when the second round starts.