The Arizona Republic

Coyotes officially eliminated from playoffs

- Jose M. Romero

Offered a sliver of playoff hope with a result from another game earlier Wednesday night, the Arizona Coyotes needed a win to stay alive for at least a couple of more days.

They didn’t get it, losing 4-2 to the Los Angeles Kings in the last home game of the season at Gila River Arena.

The St. Louis Blues clinched the fourth and last playoff spot from the West Division with their overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks, which earned them a standings point and assured that the Coyotes, with two games left, cannot catch them.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Jakob Chychrun scored goals for the Coyotes, Chychrun tying the game at 2 late in the first period with his 18th goal of the season, the most among NHL defensemen.

After a scoreless second period, the Kings got Gabe Vilardi’s second goal of the night with 15:18 to play in the game, and an empty-net goal with 37 seconds left sealed the Coyotes’ fate.

Chychrun shook his head in frustratio­n after the game. He said the team didn’t do enough as a group late in the season, and that the effort was there, but not enough. About a month ago, the Coyotes (22-26-6) were in good command of fourth place. But a crushing defeat to the Kings in Los Angeles on April 7, in which the Coyotes lost a two-goal lead in the third period, led to the current run of 12 losses in their last 15 games.

That allowed the Blues to find their form and pass the Coyotes in the standings, and it was going to take a lot anyway for Arizona to somehow steal the playoff spot. The Coyotes made the postseason in 2020 because of the expanded format with the restart of play. But beyond that, Arizona has not made the playoffs since the 2011-2012 season.

“It’s frustratin­g. We have to take a hard look and (ask) how do you get better, what do we need? There’s a lot of evaluation for everybody,” Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet said. “You just look at how things can be better, and you move on from that. That’s for another day but yeah, it’s frustratin­g losing, absolutely.” The Coyotes managed only three points from their final six home games, and finished the season 12-12-4 at home. An overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights followed by back-toback losses to the Kings over the past

five days made the postseason unreachabl­e. Ekman-Larsson scored 79 seconds into the game, his third goal of the season. Adin Hill had 18 saves for the Coyotes, and Conor Garland assisted on both goals.

“I’m going to be honest, it’s hard for me, too. I take a lot of the blame for it, obviously,” Ekman-Larsson said, asked about the toll the lack of playoff appearance­s takes on him as team captain. “I’m one of the guys that should lead this team and lead the way. I feel like I haven’t been able to do that, so it’s on me, but at the same time you win as a team and you lose as a team. That’s something that we have to get through if we’re going to be a better team.” The Coyotes outshot the Kings 30-22 for the game, but forward Lawson Crouse left the game in the third period with a lower body injury and will be re-evaluated on Thursday.

‘Toc’ talk

Tocchet was asked after the game if

he thinks he will be back as coach next season. He said that question is for next week when the season is officially over.

He was also asked what was a recurring theme in the team’s freefall out of the playoff race over the four weeks.

Coyotes Faceoff

A visit with Coyotes center Johan Larsson, who talks about his first season in Arizona and the postcard picture-like place in Sweden where he’s from.

Inside the arena

It was Fan Appreciati­on Night, and fans streamed into Gila River Arena for a Cinco de Mayo-themed celebratio­n. Before the doors opened, the Coyotes hosted a Latino business networking event for community members.

“What we’re excited about as an organizati­on is we get a chance to be able to reach out into the community and to actually say what can we do for you?” Coyotes President and CEO Xavier A. Gutierrez told participan­ts.

“We’re an NHL team, but we’re more than that. We’re really here to try to be an impact force in your life, in your business, in your organizati­on and in this community.”

Fans were greeted by the sounds of mariachi music as they entered.

 ?? ROB SCHUMACHER/THE REPUBLIC ?? Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jordan Oesterle (82) collides with goaltender Adin Hill (31) against the Los Angeles Kings in the second period Wednesday.
ROB SCHUMACHER/THE REPUBLIC Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jordan Oesterle (82) collides with goaltender Adin Hill (31) against the Los Angeles Kings in the second period Wednesday.

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