Coyotes flustered after latest loss
Tocchet not happy, says defeat to Capitals was a ‘winnable’ game
The Coyotes made it abundantly clear that they aren’t in the business of moral victories.
They aren’t happy about splitting a season series against the Washington Capitals. They don’t care that their latest loss is to the defending Stanley Cup champions. And they certainly aren’t taking pride in taking them down to the final minutes in a game they eventually lost by a 4-2 score on Thursday at Gila River Arena.
“I hope our players are pissed because the coaching staff is pissed,” Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet said after the game. “It’s not the good-old college try.
These are games you’ve got to win. … It’s a winnable game. You guys saw it. We lost.”
Tocchet has been hot in post-game press conferences before, but Thursday was different. This side of Tocchet had been mostly reserved for the beginning of last season when the team endured loss after loss as they struggled to adapt to Tocchet’s system at the beginning of last season.
Mad Tocchet hadn’t made an appearance in quite a while. That was until the Coyotes, who entered play Thursday with a four-game win streak, blew a 2-1 lead in the third period in a game that was extremely winnable.
“It’s hard to win in this league, so that’s why the details have to be there,” Tocchet said. “Get sticks on pucks, go through people, go to the net, shoot the puck … These are details you have to do, and good teams do that. I know we had four wins, but this is how you can get run.
“I mean, at least get it to overtime. I thought we just backed up, and I hate backing up when it’s 2-2. Play the same way you were most of the game. You don’t back up … It’s frustrating.”
On paper, you wouldn’t think a closely contested game against a quality opponent such as Washington would elicit such frustration. But the Coyotes don’t have the same attitude as last year. They expect to win every night, and they’re understandably upset when they let points slip away.
Capitals forward Andre Burakovsky buried the game-winner with 4:42 left and Alex Ovechkin notched an emptynetter in the final seconds. The Coyotes, who scored first in the game and had tons of scoring chances, just couldn’t piece together a full 60 minutes on Thursday.
“We started off looking really fast with our breakouts and getting in on them and making a lot fo chaos in their end,” defenseman Alex Goligoski said. “And then we just got away from it a little bit. It happens. It was one of those games where I thought it was right there for us. We just didn’t really do enough to win it.
“It’s a frustrating one for sure. They could have been had out there tonight. I don’t think it was their best game. For us, I thought we had a good start. It wasn’t horrible, it wasn’t bad, but we lost the momentum we had at the beginning of the game and that’s kind of how
Den’s digest
Capitals 4, Coyotes 2. L1. 13-12-2, 6th in Pacific. 39-36-7, 85 points. Matt Niskanen.
Andre Burakovsky’s game-winning goal at 15:18 of the third period.
3 — The number of goals allowed by goaltender Adin Hill, who had not allowed more than one goal in a single appearance this season.
“I hope our players are pissed because the coaching staff is pissed,” Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet said after the game. “It’s not the good-old college try. These are games you’ve got to win. … It’s a winnable game. You guys saw it. We lost.” — Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet.
The Coyotes have certainly had worse games, but you wouldn’t know that after listening to Tocchet after Thursday’s game. Although they played a solid game for the most part, their overall lack of execution and inattention to detail doomed them in an extremely winnable game.
“I Don’t Like Who I Was Then” by The Wonder Years.
it went.”
Tocchet took issue with the Coyotes’ inability to capitalize on their chances in the first period. Although Christian Fischer found the back of the net for his sixth goal of the season on a perfect feed by Derek Stepan, the Coyotes whiffed on several key scoring opportunities.
One in particular was a penalty shot awarded to Richard Panik, who missed the net and goaltender entirely on his chance. Panik also passed up a pointblank shot and opted to pass to a teammate, but a defender was there to steal it away.
“We missed a lot of chances in the first period,” Tocchet said. “If we hit the net, we had a couple chances to make it 3-0. I thought we were fine. We just needed guys to make some plays, quite frankly.”
After allowing the go-ahead goal late in the third, Tocchet shortened his already-short bench without Vinnie Hinostroza, who exited the game with a lower-body injury.
The Coyotes pulled goaltender Adin Hill, who stopped 25 of 28 shots in his fourth consecutive start, in the final minute and mounted a 6-on-5 in an attempt to tie the game. But they hardly came close to doing that.
“They made the play and we didn’t,” Tocchet said, referencing Washington’s go-ahead goal. “Even the 6-on-5, we’ve got to make that play. We can’t just slap it around. And it’s frustrating because we have guys who can make plays.”
The Coyotes clearly weren’t skating like the cohesive unit that notched decisive victories over the Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues and Los Angeles Kings in recent games, but neither the players nor Tocchet were saying the Coyotes were particularly bad on Thursday, either. 6 p.m.
Gila River Arena.
FSAZ/KMVP-FM (98.7). The Arizona Coyotes (13-12-2) look to get back on track after a loss Thursday when they wrap up a brief, two-game homestand against the San Jose Sharks (14-10-5) on Saturday at Gila River Arena. … The Coyotes saw their four-game win streak snapped with a 4-2 home loss to the Washington Capitals on Thursday. … The Sharks will be playing on the second end of a backto-back on the road after visiting the Dallas Stars on Friday. … Entering play Friday, the Sharks had won each of their last two games but had lost five of eight overall. … This is the first of four games between the teams this season with the Coyotes slated to host the Sharks again on Jan. 16 before traveling to San Jose on Dec. 23 and Feb. 2. … The Sharks are led in scoring by defenseman Brent Burns with 29 points (four goals, 25 assists) as well was forwards Logan Couture with 27 points (eight goals, 19 assists) and Timo Meier with 26 points (14 goals, 12 assists).