'We're Not Backing Off': Coyotes Down, But Far from Out

Head coach Rick Tocchet wanted a response. He got it.
"We played a good hockey game," Tocchet said. "That's more like it. I'm proud of the way they played."
Unfortunately, for him and his Coyotes, they didn't get the win.
The Coyotes matched - and at times, outplayed - the Avalanche.
"We were in their face today," Tocchet stressed. "We could've won that hockey game. That's more of our style. You've got to go down swinging, and we were in that game."

And in less than 24 hours? Game 3: "We've got to do the same thing," Tocchet said. "We're not backing off."
Arizona went toe-to-toe with Colorado.
The Avalanche scored the game-deciding goal with 2:53 remaining on a broken play that involved a gutsy Jakob Chychrun shot block that took a wrong bounce. Chychrun's block caromed to an unattended Andre Burakovsky in the slot. Burakovsky fired home the game-winner.
The result not only was a 3-2 loss for the Coyotes, but now a 2-0 series deficit.
"I thought we played better today," Conor Garland said. "You've got to play a full 60. I think we made a good push there in the third, but we just came up short. There's a quick turnaround, so we need to get focused on tomorrow."

The teams traded goals in the first two periods, the Coyotes twice evening the score.
The Avalanche opened the scoring early in the first period, taking advantage of a neutral zone turnover. Gabriel Landeskog led Nathan MacKinnon with a bank pass and MacKinnon sped in to beat Kuemper with a wrist shot off the far post.
Arizona tied the game, 1-1, with three minutes remaining in the first period. Taylor Hall corralled a pass from Jordan Oesterle before darting into Colorado's zone to find a trailing Clayton Keller with a pass across the slot. Keller's one-timer trickled through Philipp Grubauer's pads, and the puck was knocked in by a Colorado defender.

The Coyotes matched their Game 1 shot total of 14 at the midway mark of the second period. Arizona recorded more shots in the second period alone -- 16 -- than they did in the previous game.
Michael Grabner was close to giving the Coyotes a lead early in the second, but his chance ricocheted off the crossbar. Colorado countered shortly thereafter to gain a 2-1 advantage. Tyson Jost deflected a Cale Makar wrist shot past Darcy Kuemper.
After his near-goal, Grabner got another chance on his next shift, quickly tying the game, 2-2. Grabner won a race to a dump-in, found open ice and walked into the slot to connect with a wrist shot from the right hash.

Grabner's goal, his third of the playoffs, tied him with Keller for the team lead.
"For myself, I'm just trying to do what I can to help the team out," Grabner said. "As long as the puck's going in, it's great. But we've got to get some wins here."
Tocchet has been pleased with Grabner's production these playoffs, and noted the impact he had on the penalty kill Friday. The Coyotes shut down all four of Colorado's power-play opportunities.

"It was a big goal for us," Tocchet said, of Grabner's shot. "He did a nice job for us. The penalty kill was good for us, too. It's tough to shut that penalty kill down, we did a good job."
Now, it's about preparing for a quick turnaround. Game 3 looms in less than 24 hours..
"You've got to get yourself back," said Tocchet. "You've got to get a good meal in, get good sleep and get right back at it. That's just the way it is, that's playoff hockey. You see a lot of different things in playoff hockey, and one thing is that your attitude and energy level has to be there the next night. You have to have a short memory."
The Coyotes might want to forget the result. But they'll want to remember the response.
"Yeah, we're disappointed," Tocchet added. "You want to win these types of hockey games. But at the end of the day, we lost. You need to make sure you come back with the same energy, the same game plan, and go right at them."

Lead Photo Credit: Dave Sandford - NHLI via Getty Images // Second Photo Credit: Andy Devlin - NHLI via Getty Images // Third Photo Credit: Jeff Vinnick - NHLI via Getty Images // Footer Photo Credit: Jeff Vinnick - NHLI via Getty Images