Coyotes: It’s time to play better hockey

The break is over.

Players have returned from their vacations, laced up their skates and shifted their minds back to hockey after a nine-day hiatus away from the ice. They didn’t get a break from each other, however.

A group of around around a dozen Coyotes players and their respective wives and girlfriends traveled to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for a getaway. Given that the Coyotes hadn’t been playing their best hockey prior to the break, there was a sense that a vacation was good medicine for a team that had hit recently hit a wall.

Now the Coyotes play three games in four nights, the first coming on Wednesday against the Anaheim Ducks. After that, it’s an overnight flight back to Phoenix to prep for a home game with the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. Finally, it’s a Saturday bout with the Chicago Blackhawks at Gila River Arena to wrap up the stretch.

It will be a challenge right off the top for the Coyotes, who meet a Ducks team that has already seen game action postbreak.

“I think we have to keep it simple and not over-complicate things early,” Coyotes forward Nick Schmaltz said. “It takes a little bit for your hands and timing to get back, so you’ve got to keep your feet moving early and you’ll get adjusted coming quick.”

In an effort to ready for game action, the Coyotes practiced Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in the Valley before flying to Anaheim on Tuesday afternoon. The team will also have a morning skate prior to Wednesday’s game.

The Coyotes know just how important these three games are. Despite the fact that each comes against teams currently outside the playoff picture, each point carries immense wait in a February schedule that features 14 games in 29 days.

Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet said it will be paramount for his team to keep perspective and not take unnecessary chances after slipping out of the Pacific Division’s top three spots prior to the break.

“It’s controlled emotion,” Tocchet said. “Your energy level tank should be full now. We should he hungry and ready to play. For whatever reason, in the last two weeks, our energy level was low. As a coach I could feel it, and sometimes you feel helpless . ... I don’t think we played smart some games. Even when our energy level was low, we were making mistakes. That’s a lesson for us.”

The simple truth is that the Coyotes haven’t been good enough in recent weeks. They are just 1-4-1 in their last six games after a four game win streak from Dec. 31-Jan. 7. Perhaps the most surprising figure is that the Coyotes are just 78-1 since acquiring Taylor Hall.

Treading water will not yield the Coyotes their first playoff berth in seven years, yet that is exactly what the team has done over the last few weeks. If the Coyotes can take care of business against these lesser teams — something that has proved challenging at times this season — it will afford them a bit of slack against intra-division opponents in an air-tight race for the playoffs.

Coyotes goaltender Darcy Kuemper (lower body) traveled with the team to Anaheim but will not play; Antti Raanta will start in net against the Ducks, Tocchet said. Kuemper, who has not played since Dec. 19, has been practicing with team but has not yet been cleared for game action.

Brad Richardson (lower body) is also practicing with the team, but did so in a non-contact jersey on Tuesday, as did rookie Barrett Hayton (shoulder). Richardson traveled with the team but is unlikely to play on Wednesday. Hayton did not travel but could be cleared for contact soon, Tocchet said.

Nick Schmaltz (undisclosed) was a full participant at practice on Tuesday but is not a lock to play on Wednesday, according to a team source. Jordan Oesterle (lower body) is probable for Wednesday.