Two different jerseys, same outcome. After dropping the first contest of their two-game series vs. LA on Thursday night, while wearing their Kachina jerseys, the Coyotes returned in their Reverse Retro sweaters for the rematch on Saturday – but still fell to the visiting Kings.
After falling 4-2 to LA, Arizona head coach Rick Tocchet shared the following thoughts:
On the third period tonight
On that goal, there was a couple of structure plays. The short-handed goal and then their winning goal…Some guys weren’t thinking tonight they looked tired mentally. Overall they didn’t have a lot of chances. The ones they did, they scored on and we just gave them a couple. We weren’t smart on those plays, there’s a couple individual mistakes and that’s unfortunate.
On the start of the game
They didn’t get a really good chance in the first so that’s a good thing, but that doesn’t mean anything. I think we didn’t really drive a lot of pucks to the net. It’s not like they were all over us. They stick to their structure a lot more than us and I have to give them a lot of credit. They are comfortable playing the way we weren’t at certain times. Couple guys are diving in when there was no reason to dive in. It’s a tie game and we gave them a three-on-two; basically gave them the guts of the ice. That can’t happen.
On the production from Derek Brassard and Phil Kessel
It’s good, we needed production from them. It was good.
BONUS QUOTES
Derick Brassard on tonight’s game
I feel like it’s been two or three games that we should have at least had a point, but we’ve got to be a little bit smarter with our decisions with the puck, just our line changes in general. We’ve got to learn from that and we faced a young, hungry team the last couple days. It could’ve gone either way, but in that third period there we’ve got to be sharper.
On if the Coyotes matched the King’s intensity in the first period
Last game, it wasn’t really good for us in the first period, but tonight it was. We were skating; we played well. It’s just these games when they’re on-goal games like that, you’ve just got to play the right way. Sometimes, you’ve just got to fight for another day there and you’re just going to try to bring it into overtime, get some points and find a way to win it in OT or the shootout. I feel like there have been two or three games like this. This season, we kind of drift a little bit and we’ve got to learn from it. We didn’t play bad tonight, we’ve just got to be sharper when the game is on the line.
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