The Coyotes had the Avalanche right where they wanted them.
Having adopted the rope-a-dope for much of this postseason, the Coyotes positioned themselves to gain some momentum after the Avalanche took a two-goal lead in the first period.
Staked to their first power play in the final three minutes of the opening frame, the Coyotes had fatigued the Avalanche penalty kill with good puck movement and consistent puck retrievals in the offensive zone.
All they needed was to finish it off and the Coyotes would have been down by one goal. Instead, they lost the game by a lot more.