The view from Glendale

The storylines for the Phoenix Coyotes today will be about supplemental discipline and composure, and that can’t make coach Dave Tippett happy. After Game 1, he talked about staying out of the box and, well, in a way the Coyotes did. Shane Doan and Martin Hanzal went to the locker room instead, after getting game-misconduct penalties. That’s probably not what Tippett had in mind. The ironic thing for the Coyotes is that at the time they imploded, they weren’t out of the game. Yes, the Kings led 2-0, but for stretches of the first period and early in the second period, the Coyotes were smart and aggressive and creating some major traffic in front of Jonathan Quick. If they could have stayed with that, instead of going on a head- (and knee-)hunting festival, they might have made it a tight game again. That will probably be Tippett’s message to his team today. Tippett is an outstanding coach, but he has some work to do over the next 30-plus hours, to get his team emotionally back on track. Here’s how The Arizona Republic covered last night’s game, followed by some additional postgame quotes from the Coyotes…

The Arizona Republic’s Coyotes coverage

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COACH DAVE TIPPETT

(on comparing Game 2 to Game 1…) “It was disappointing, the way it finished. I thought we certainly started better. I thought the first four or five minutes of the second period, we had four or five very good chances to score to get the game back to even. We weren’t able to do that. They got that second one. We ended up putting ourselves in a lot of penalty trouble. First period, they had a lot of shots from outside. The first period, I thought, was a better period for us. Last game, it was one of those games we were hanging around the game. Needed to capitalize on the chances. Unfortunately, the penalties took the game away from us.’’

(on whether his team is frustrated…) “Well, it’s frustrating not winning, not being able to do the things you want to do. That’s for sure.’’

(on his top players not producing as they did against Nashville…) “We need everybody to give a little more. Those guys aren’t excluded from that, obviously. When you’re looking to make those opportunities count, your margin for error is very slim. When we do get chances, and the players that are around the chances, you know, that’s the difference where we are right now compared to (against) Nashville. They went in in Nashville. Here we haven’t been able to bury anything.’’

(on the Coyotes not playing to their potential…) “You know, I think there’s sometimes, I think you have
to give (the Kings) credit, how they’re playing. I certainly think that we can show better than we are right now. Like I say, I like the first period, first part of the second period. We’ve got to find a way to sustain that, obviously keeps some pucks out of our net, be more disciplined, capitalize on a chance or two. At least give ourselves a chance where we feel like we’re competitive in the game.’’

(on being down 2-0 and possibly having supplemental discipline coming…) “Well, I’m not going to worry about the discipline. The league will take care of that. I don’t know what will happen there. But obviously being down 2-0, that’s not the results we were looking for at home. We’ve got to regroup tomorrow, go in there and try to steal a game on the road.’’

(on dealing with the Kings’ size…) “They are using their size? They’re throwing a lot of pucks at the net, you know, crashing the net. We’re trying to do the same thing. We just haven’t got as many pucks there. The games are competitive. Like I say, I thought for stretches tonight we were much better than we were in Game 1. I think in Game 1, if you look back, we were a team we weren’t sure how it was going to go. Took us a while to figure out that the bar goes up every round, so… Like I say, I think there were some things we could grab out of tonight’s game (that) we can build on and there’s some things that are going to have to come out of our game or get out of our game if we’re going to have a chance to be successful.’’

(on not letting his players lose their cool…) “Losing our cool over there? The Doan penalty was a little frustrating because that’s one, you know, it’s a slash, these sticks break like they do. The Yandle penalty, I don’t know why only one guy was taken there. I still felt like we were around a little bit. The Doan penalty is an interesting one. It’s a dangerous place. A player can’t put himself in that position either. I’m not saying it was a good hit. Anybody who’s played the game, you’re in that position, the guy is beside you, he turns his back to you, you can’t stop. You can’t stop. You know, that’s the way I saw that hit. I don’t want to comment too much on it. Obviously that was a big factor, spending that much time down 5-on-3.’’

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MIKE SMITH

(on the game…) “We got out-competed again, out-battled. We didn’t penetrate the middle of the ice at all. We kind of played on the outside. I thought, in the first period, we played a little better. We competed a little harder, but it’s not enough. They’re a good hockey team. Their top players play like their third- and fourth-line players. Throughout the whole lineup, they all play the same way, and they’re very consistent in that manner. Saying that, we haven’t played near the capability of our team, the way we’re capable of playing. It’s the first one to four, not the first one to two, so there’s no need to hit the panic button but we do need to play better.’’

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SHANE DOAN

(on the game…) “We lost. It is what it is. We have to get ready for the next game. They scored. They got a 1-0 lead and they played well. We had some opportunities to make it 1-1 and we missed some chances. Quick made some big save and obviously they extended it.’’

(on his hit on Trevor Lewis…) “He turns. He looks right at me. I didn’t even look at him again. I was looking down at the puck, because I was trying to poke the puck free. He turns away as I’m coming in.’’