Recap: Coyotes Start Short Trip with Loss to Blackhawks

CHICAGO -- Looking to build off a six-win homestand, the Coyotes lost, 7-1, to the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center on Monday night in the first game of a two-game road trip.

"We just had too many guys that had bad, like terrible nights," Head Coach Rick Tocchet said. "It's on me, I didn't get these guys prepared. I don't know, maybe we should have done something differently yesterday (at practice), but I'm going to take the bullet on this one ... Some guys were just, they weren't ready to play."

Richard Panik scored the game's first goal at 4:27 of the first period, but it was all Chicago after that. Five Blackhawks tallied goals, including Brendan Perlini, who notched the first hat trick of his NHL career, which started in Arizona.
"He was flying," Tocchet said. "We didn't hit him. I don't think one of our guys got in front of him one time, so that's what happens. A guy with talent, a guy like that, if you don't hit him he's going to get those chances. His third goal was a microcosm of our whole game. It was just mind-boggling. Like I said, it was my fault. I've got to get these guys ready."
Fortunately for Arizona, the Minnesota Wild, who own the second wildcard spot in the Western Conference standings, one point ahead of the Coyotes, also lost in regulation on Monday night. So did the Colorado Avalanche, who are one point behind Arizona with less than a month left in the regular season.

The Coyotes flew to St. Louis immediately after the game and will skate vs. the Blues on Tuesday night.
"I think we have to flush this game, obviously, but like I told the guys, it's going to get harder," Tocchet said. "If you think it's hard now, it's going to get harder and harder."
Captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson said the Coyotes must play with much greater intensity than they did on Monday.
"We got away from our game a little bit and didn't get the puck deep and couldn't really create any chances or get anything to the net," Ekman-Larsson said. "...We've got to work harder and we've got to battle. That's why we've been successful and we got away from that a little bit today."

• In an effort to change momentum, Tocchet pulled starting goalie Darcy Kuemper after Chris Kunitz gave the Blackhawks a 4-1 lead with a goal at 6:26 of the second period on Chicago's 16th shot. Backup Calvin Pickard, who last played Feb. 18 at Calgary, stopped 15 of 18 shots in relief of Kuemper.
"It's part of being a goalie," Pickard said. "You're going to have to be called upon at different times in a game ... Give them credit, they were unbelievable. They were making plays. They were the (Harlem) Globetrotters for a while and they earned some good goals. It's just one game for us. The nice part about it is we can bounce back tomorrow."
• Christian Dvorak assisted on Panik's goal to extend his point streak to three games.
• Lawson Crouse added seven hits to his season total. He ranks third in the NHL with 241.