Coyotes captain Shane Doan made a return to the line-up Saturday night in Phoenix after a prolonged absence due to Rocky Mountain Fever. Out since December 4, Doan played over 18 minutes, but didn’t record a shot or point in his team’s 5-3 loss to the visiting Philadelphia Flyers.
Back in their respective locker rooms, here’s post-game comments from both sides of the aisle…
Coyotes coach Dave Tippett on his team losing a two-goal lead:
“We didn’t manage that very well, that’s for sure. We made some mistakes, they are a big, heavy team when you allow them to get momentum, they come at you hard. When you make mistakes and your goaltender is not cleaning them up then you end up where we are at.”
Tippett on his team’s play of late:
“It’s about getting plays made that push the game along and we’ve been a really good team at that for a long time, and there has been too many instances this year where a simple play has got to get made, sometimes it’s not a simple play, it’s a hard play of just a puck getting out, or winning a battle of a puck getting out that’s got to get made and it’s not. Those are the ones that are frustrating.”
Tippett on where his team stands at the halfway point of the season:
“We don’t recognize situations well enough and we don’t play well enough in a lot of situations… Right now we have been inconsistent. Our goaltending hasn’t been inconsistent, the scoring was good early and we kind of let that down. Our goals against is nowhere near where it has to be and that penalty kill and goaltending again goes in those brackets and those are all areas continuing to be areas of concern.”
Coyotes forward Shane Doan on the overall game:
“We get up 3-1 we’ve got to find a way; we’ve got to get that next one to put that game away. And give them credit, they battled hard and got the next one and came back and we just can’t afford to do that, especially with the way the West is. You get a two-goal lead; you’ve got to find a way to win that game.”
Doan on the second goal his team gave up:
“Obviously, we don’t want to give that one up but at the same time we still had the lead going in to the third (period). We’ve got to win the third period at home. That’s what we talk about all the time. We’ve had a pretty good track record of it in the past and we came out and we were okay until we gave them anther power play and obviously they capitalized on it, but even then we still need to find a way to win that game and unfortunately we didn’t find it.”
Coyotes forward Mikkel Boedker on the overall game:
“It’s obviously depressing. It’s nothing that we want to let happen and we let it slip away from us. We had, I think twice, a two-goal lead and obviously that’s nothing we want to let happen, it happens, we’ve got to get back to playing the way we know how to play and we’ve got to get back to playing where we control the games.”
Boedker on his team’s power play:
“Obviously, the power play can help out. We have got to be better as a unit, as a whole group of power play players. We’ve got to be better; we’ve got to contribute on there. When we’ve got a power play, the other team has got to know that the momentum is going to change and that’s something we have to do as a power play unit. We have to make sure that the other team is afraid of our power play and right now it doesn’t seem like they’re afraid of our power play.”
Flyers coach Craig Berube on his team’s late comebacks:
“You don’t know we couldn’t, our team, you know we’re confident but I think they know they can get back in the games and they know they’re scoring more now, when your skilled guys are scoring goals they feel like they can get us back into the hockey game.”
Berubeo on his team’s Western Conference part of the roadtrip:
“Well, it was a real good trip, obviously, because of the wins. I think we played a real team roadtrip, everybody contributed and we did a lot of good things for the wins.”
Berube on Philadelphia forward Jakub Voracek:
“We started shooting the puck more, obviously. We always talk about that: When you shoot the puck good things happen, so I mean, we thought the power play did a good job there putting pucks on the net and puck recoveries… We missed a few times and we got to them, so that’s important.”
Forward Jakub Voracek on the overall game:
“We have very good chemistry, you know? It’s a very hardworking team over here (in Phoenix)… In the beginning of the season we would have failed, but right now we believe in ourselves that we can come back from whatever deficit we are down. So, you know, we were down two goals again, it’s a tough building to play in against a tough team, so it shows a lot of team effort, and like I said, we never give up.”
Voracek on this roadtrip:
“Two huge shootout wins; we came back the last minute in Vancouver. I think if someone told us before the road trip that we would get eight points we would take it right away. Huge win for us today, we move up in the standings now, we have to go back home and get some rest and get ready for Jersey on Monday.”
Flyers forward Claude Giroux on the comeback victory:
“We learned the hard way in the start of the year and I think if we’re down a couple goals we stay with the system, we stay with the way we’re playing. I think we played a patient game and played the way we should.”
Giroux on Phoenix Goaltender Mike Smith’s save on him:
“He’s a goalie that plays pretty deep and for him to go across like that; he’s pretty good at that. So, obviously it’s frustrating when you have a chance like that but it was a nice play by (Philadelphia Forward Zac) Rinaldo.”
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