Phoenix
Coyotes

Coyotes Team Report

Updated: May 29, 2012 06:23 EST

The Coyotes were livid at the end of Game 5 -- about what they saw as a brutal hit by Kings captain Dustin Brown that sent defenseman Michal Rozsival out of the game with a knee injury, and about the goal by Dustin Penner seconds later that ended their season.

"It's very disappointing," Coyotes captain Shane Doan said. "I've been knocked out in the first round a lot, and you think that it's going to feel better when you get to the next round. But I don't care when you get knocked out; it feels awful and you don't want to be part of it."

When asked about the Brown play, Doan, who said he has held his tongue during the series, lashed out at the officiating during the entire series. He said he has yet to see any of the penalties called on him in the series, yet a knee-on-knee hit from Brown after the whistle went unpunished.

"Honestly, I can't understand how you miss that," Doan said. "How do you miss that? (Rozsival's) knee is blown out. How do you miss that when it's after the whistle, and it's a knee? How do you possibly miss that?"

But the Coyotes also tipped their hats to the Kings, who went 12-2 against the top three seeds in the Western Conference and got on top of Phoenix 2-0 before the young team found its stride.

"I thought we had a lot of players that were a little bit awestruck in Game 1, you know," Phoenix coach Dave Tippett said. "We talked about the bar getting raised, and you're going to have to be better. But in Game 1 I think we stood around and watched the game a lot. In Game 2, first half of the game I thought we played very well, got ourselves in it, got ourselves in penalty trouble.

"Really for the rest of the series after that, it was very tight. But you have to give (the Kings) credit for what they're doing. They're playing a pretty complete game there those first few games. We went in, played a strong Game 4."

Veteran Ray Whitney added, "We showed the last two games a little more of what kind of team we were. Unfortunately we didn't start off the series the way we would have liked, and in the end that's what cost us."

--Amid the pain of elimination and the frustration of a quick end in overtime, several Coyotes acknowledged the pride they felt in reaching the conference finals.

"It (hurts) right now. It's not fun to lose or to be done, but we accomplished a lot as a group," goalie Mike Smith said. "At the beginning of the season, not many people had us in the conference finals or winning a division. We played some great stretches and showed the character we had in the locker room. It stings the way we have to go out, but someone has to lose."

Ray Whitney missed a chance to raise the Stanley Cup for the second time in his 20th NHL season, but not an opportunity to praise his teammates.

"The players we have, the payroll we have ... when you look at the word 'team', this what you see," Whitney said. "Everybody has to contribute, everybody has to chip in, or it's not going to be successful. I couldn't be more proud of a group of guys who as a group barely made it into the playoffs and got to the conference finals."

--The Coyotes had their best period of the series -- and perhaps the entire postseason -- in the first period of Game 5, outshooting Los Angeles 7-1 in the first seven minutes. They took the lead when Taylor Pyatt tipped home a Martin Hanzal power-play shot 4:20 into the game. It was the fourth goal of the postseason for Pyatt, who added an assist later and continued his huge playoffs.

But Phoenix failed to bury several other golden opportunities to expand the lead -- Radim Vrbata had two golden opportunities -- and the Coyotes went to the dressing room even when Anze Kopitar tied the game for the Kings after Smith made an ill-advised long pass that went for icing.

"That was our best period of the series and I'm disappointed in myself on the play they got the goal," Smith said. "They got the momentum back, and that kind of sucked some life out of us for a little bit. I iced the puck, I forced it ... and it comes back and it's in our net. We should have been up 1-0 going in, but I made a bonehead play."

QUOTE TO NOTE: "Probably, we have to take some blame for not settling down and continuing to play. It was so obvious that the guys and the fans and everyone see it, and when the other team's not arguing it, it's bad; you think he's going to have a hearing for that." -- Phoenix defenseman Keith Yandle about Dustin Brown's hit on Michal Rozsival in overtime, just before allowing the game-winning goal to Dustin Penner.

PLAYER NOTES:

--LW Taylor Pyatt was one of Phoenix's best forwards during the postseason, and he responded again with his fourth goal of the playoffs to give the Coyotes an early 1-0 lead. Pyatt finished with a goal and assist to go with seven hits in Game 5.

--D Adrian Aucoin missed his fourth game of the conference finals with an injury that left the Coyotes mixing and matching against the Kings. David Schlemko played in place of Aucoin in Game 5 and was left behind on Mike Richards' goal in the second period. The only game that Aucoin played and the Coyotes had their normal defensive rotation, they won 2-0 (Game 4).

--RW Marc-Antoine Pouliot made coach Dave Tippett look smart for his decision to play him over Gilbert Brule. Pouliot tallied his first NHL playoff goal to give Phoenix a 2-1 lead in the second period. He played eight playoff games and established himself as a player who could have a future in Phoenix.

MEDICAL WATCH:

--D Michal Rozsival suffered a right knee injury in a collision with Kings captain Dustin Brown overtime. He was helped off the ice and didn't return. His status is unknown.

--D Adrian Aucoin missed Game 5 with an undisclosed injury.

GOALTENDERS:

--Mike Smith

--Jason LaBarbera

DEFENSE PAIRINGS:

--Keith Yandle, Derek Morris

--Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Michal Rozsival

--Rostislav Klesla, David Schlemko

FIRST LINE:

--LW Ray Whitney, C Martin Hanzal, RW Radim Vrbata

SECOND LINE:

--LW Mikkel Boedker, C Antoine Vermette, RW Shane Doan

THIRD LINE:

--LW Taylor Pyatt, C Daymond Langkow, RW Lauri Korpikoski

FOURTH LINE:

--LW Kyle Chipchura, C Boyd Gordon, RW Marc-Antoine Pouliot