Louis Domingue
Coyotes look to bounce back vs. Red Wings
Louis Domingue

Coyotes look to bounce back vs. Red Wings

Published Dec. 14, 2016 8:33 a.m. ET

DETROIT -- The Arizona Coyotes are coming off their worst loss since October 2015, but they have no time to lick their wounds.

It's right back into action on Tuesday night against the Detroit Red Wings -- less than 24 hours after a 7-0 drubbing at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The game can be seen on FOX Sports Arizona Plus and FOX Sports GO, starting at 5 p.m.

Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson said confidence is starting to become an issue for the Coyotes as the losses mount: "It's hard to play hockey when you don't have the confidence and you don't want to have the puck.

ADVERTISEMENT

"We've got to get back to you want to have the puck and make plays out there."

If there's one consolation for the Coyotes (9-14-5), it's that the Red Wings' offense won't provide as formidable a challenge as the Penguins.

Detroit (13-12-4), like Arizona, is struggling to score. The Red Wings are coming off a 1-0 overtime loss at home to the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday night and have scored only 20 goals in their last 12 home games.

The Red Wings have lost 10 of those 12 games (2-7-3), including the first two of their current five-game homestand. They rank 26th in the league in goals per game (2.28) and 29th in shots per game (28.1).

Dylan Larkin leads the Red Wings with nine goals, and veteran Henrik Zetterberg has a team-high 20 points.

"We just got to do a better job of going to the net and shooting more pucks," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill told www.mlive.com. "We were passing up shots (against Philadelphia). I think the shot attempts after the second were almost even. We had three times the zone time as them in the first (period), but we don't end up outshooting them because we don't shoot the puck enough.

"So we got to decide if we want to shoot the puck, we got to decide if we want to go to the net. It's been an issue here for three years, five-on-five offense, and we got to decide if we're going to change it. Until we do that, we're not going to score enough.

"We have to drill it, we have to show it, anyway we can to try to make sure we do that. I don't know if it's that easy, but that's what teams do in the league that score."

The Coyotes have had similar concerns after being shut out for the second time in four games on Monday night. Turnovers and puck possession have been problems, forcing too much reliance on their goaltenders. Mike Smith allowed four goals on 22 shots vs. the Penguins before being replaced by Louis Domingue.

"There's a standard you have to play to in the NHL, whether you're a young guy or a veteran," coach Dave Tippett said after the loss. "We didn't play or compete at an NHL level tonight. That's the score you get and that's where we're at."

Added defenseman Michael Stone: "I think we have to learn from this, learn that every team is good in this league and you can't take any nights off, no matter who you're playing.

"Tomorrow we've got to have the mindset of coming in and outworking the other team. We've got to try to forget about what just happened today, but that's tough one."

share


Louis Domingue
Get more from Louis Domingue Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more