ADAM GREEN

Coyotes have much to work on following Game 1 loss to Kings

May 14, 2012, 5:33 AM | Updated: 3:24 pm

There’s a scene in D2: The Mighty Ducks — hell,
really
any hockey movie –
where the team gets run ragged in practice following a
poor game, where
players are forced to skate until they can’t skate
anymore.

Coyotes, welcome to your Monday following a Game 1 loss to
the Los Angeles
Kings in the Western Conference Final.

“We had some games like this, but not to the point where
we got out-competed
the way we did,” Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said following
the game.

Think the coach is upset with his team?

Fortunately for the Coyotes – unlike the Mighty Ducks
before them – quitting
is not really an option, unless you think they gave up in
Sunday’s 4-2 loss.
And hey, it’d be tough to argue that assertion.

After all, the Coyotes were, as Tippett said, beat in
every facet of the game.
They were outshot 48-27, they went 0-for-5 on the power
play, turned the
puck over far too
often and failed to do much of anything positive, save a
Derek Morris shot
from center ice and an outstanding play that led to Mikkel
Boedker’s second-
period goal. In all, little happened that would lead one
to believe the
Coyotes will be able to knock off the hottest team in
hockey.

Unless, of course, they play better which was,
surprisingly, the general theme
in the dressing room following the game.

“It’s frustrating when you get beat, it’s disappointing
when you get beat,”
Coyotes captain Shane Doan said. “It’s no good, especially
when we don’t play
as well as we can.”

Doan gave credit to the Kings for controlling the game,
and rightfully so. The
tempo was set early – L.A. scored just 3:53 into the game
– and Jonathan Quick
was impressive at saving shots that did not come from the
red line.

The Coyotes did have chances, and they head into
Tuesday’s Game 2
feeling like it’s up to them to play their game, not
adjust to the Kings’.
Find a team that doesn’t have that kind of mentality after
a loss and you’ll
have one that does not believe it can win.

That’s not the Coyotes, at least not yet.

“I’m pretty sure that you don’t get anything from winning
one,” Doan said.
“We’ve got to find a way to win the next one.”

Indeed, because while Game 2 is not technically a “must-
win,” it would be
tough to imagine the Coyotes coming back from an 0-2 hole
in this one.

“It’s a long, long battle,” center Antoine Vermette said.
“It’s not going to
come easy, there’s plenty of hockey still left; you have
to adjust quickly and
learn from your mistakes.”

Tippett said he’s curious to see how his team responds
from being down in a
series for the first time this postseason.

“I’m interested to see how we come back and play better,”
he said. “Because we
have to play better if we’re going to have a chance to
win.”

The process will begin at 11:30 a.m. Monday as the Coyotes
take the ice at
Jobing.com Arena for practice.

Good luck, gentlemen.

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