Coyotes suffer their 1st shutout of season
CHICAGO - Coyotes coach Dave Tippett used his timeout and the players who weren’t on the bench gathered in front of it – everyone except goalie Mike Smith, who was all alone in his crease looking just as stranded as he’d been moments before the action paused.
Tippett hollered as he paced, motioning with his right hand until he’d said enough and crossed his arms.
“You’re just trying to reinforce that we needed to keep at it here,” he said.
His players responded by giving up only one more goal, but it might be a stretch to say they actually improved – not when the Blackhawks were still getting quality looks on Smith and the offense struggled to challenge Scott Darling at the other end.
And without an orchestrated push, the Coyotes were unable to
overcome a 19-second lapse in the second period that triggered Tippett’s wakeup call and a milder version of the Blackhawks – they were without No. 1 goalie Corey Crawford and captain Jonathan Toews – cruised to a 4-0 win Tuesday in front of 21,327 at United Center.
“Turning point of the game, for sure,” Tippett said.
After losing both games on this twogame road trip in two nights, the Coyotes have now dropped five straight – a span in which they’ve pocketed two points via extra-time defeats but have been mired in a bleak outlook amid poor puck play.
The Blackhawks upped their lead to 2-0 only 6:26 into the second after a quick stretch pass created a 2-on-1 break. With defenseman Oliver EkmanLarsson chasing, winger Marian Hossa kicked a Ryan Hartman pass up to his stick and snuck a shot through Smith. “Coverage was poor,” Tippett said. Chicago made it 3-0 after the ensuing faceoff. Winger Richard Panik got a jump on defenseman Michael Stone to cut to the net and was stopped by Smith, but Panik scooped up the loose puck and wrapped it around to the front of the net where center Dennis Rasmussen buried it by Smith at 6:45 – only 19 seconds after Hossa’s goal.
“He wanted us to battle and try to help Smitty out a little bit,” EkmanLarsson said of Tippett’s message. “It felt like we turned too many pucks over in the second, and they got a couple breakaways and two goals there.”
Arizona was still vulnerable after regrouping during the timeout with Chicago still gaining in-tight chances against Smith, and Hossa added another at 16:44 in the third period on a breakaway.
“We have to do a better job helping Smitty out,” Ekman-Larsson said. “We didn’t do that.”
What’s more, the Coyotes’ offense sputtered, too. The group had three shots for much of the second until doubling its output late in the period to rack up six while the Blackhawks had 13.
In the third, they didn’t get their first shot until 5:54 remained and added only six to get shut out for the first time this season.
“It felt like we backed off a little bit, and we were trying to handle the puck a little bit more instead of keep playing quick and getting the puck deep and go after them,” Ekman-Larsson said.
Darling made 22 saves to secure his first shutout of the season as the Coyotes barely eclipsed their seasonlow 18 shots from Monday, highlighting another problem – their dip in scoring. The team has scored two or fewer goals in seven of its last eight games.
“It’s the lack of good plays being made,” Tippett said. “Usually the top players on your team make good plays, whether it’s on the power play or create chances. We’re not getting enough of those made. Then you look at some grind plays. Should be able to grind some chances out. Not getting enough of those plays. Just not creating enough offense.”
This issue is probably related to the amount of shots they’re giving up, which certainly limits their ability to go on the offensive, but that’s an area that the team cleaned up a bit against the Blackhawks.
Smith finished with 23 saves, a far cry from the franchise-record and career-high 58 he turned aside Saturday amid an eye-popping 60 on net.
“We just don’t make enough plays to get anything done, whether it’s defensively or offensively,” Tippett said. “It’s just not enough plays getting made.”
Of the 16 power-play goals surrendered by the Coyotes this season, 14 have come on the road. Chicago ended up going 1-for-3 with the man advantage; Arizona was 0-for-2.