'Yotes Notes: Stone Returns To Lineup vs. Bruins

GLENDALE -Defenseman Michael Stone returned to the lineup on Saturday night as the Coyotes lost, 2-1, to the Boston Bruins at Gila River Arena.
Stone, who missed six games in a row because of an upper-body injury, was paired with Oliver Ekman-Larsson. He played 20:59, delivered three hits, blocked two shots and took one shot on goal.

"I felt OK," Stone said, "(but) not as good as the first time I came back (from injury) ... Physically I felt fine, but the speed is something I've got to get going again. You've got to get that from games, so that's what I'm trying to do."
Stone, who spent six-plus months recovering from major knee surgery this off-season, suffered the upper-body injury on Oct. 27 vs. Philadelphia.
"It's frustrating because I feel like I just got up and going and back into the rhythm of playing games and feeling good about my game really, considering, and then something like that happens," Stone said. "I thought it was a little bit more minor than it ended up being, so it was frustrating."
Stone was asked about the team's inconsistency to start the season and its 5-9-0 record.
"Yeah, we're at the bottom of the standings but we all know we can play," Stone said. "It's just a matter of putting it all together and doing it every night ... We're close but we're not close enough and that's what you need to do to win in this League is be better than close."
• Radim Vrbata scored Arizona's goal at 12:05 of the third period during a power play. It was Vrbata's team-high sixth goal of the season and it extended his point streak to four games.

• Rookie Tony DeAngelo helped set up Vrbata's goal for his first NHL assist.
• Head Coach Dave Tippett said the tone for this game was set in the first period when the Bruins dictated play.
"We brought a lot of trouble on ourselves early in the game with turnovers, so it gave them a lot of close chances," Tippett said. "They weren't great chances but could-have-been chances that we got behind a little bit. We pushed in the third, but it's not enough."
• Goalie Louis Domingue made 27 saves, including all seven shots he faced in the third period to keep the Coyotes within striking distance.
"It was just a tough game to win," Domingue said. "They played a good game, we played a good game and they scored more goals. But we were disciplined tonight and I thought we played fairly well."
He added: "It's hard in this league if you fall behind like we're doing right now. We're not going to be tough to play against, and teams are just going to come in here and think it's going to be an easy night, and we need to change that right away. It's hard because we fall behind in every game and every single game we're chasing the game and we just have to find a way to get back to playing like we know how and we're going to be fine. But it has to start now because the more you wait the deeper you get."

• Arizona has lost nine games this season and five of those defeats have been one-goal losses.
"We are close but it's not good enough," Vrbata said. "This is a league where you need points. Even though we've lost most of the games by one goal, it's not good enough."
• Tippett said he thinks injured center Martin Hanzal and injured goalie Mike Smith will both be ready for Wednesday's game at Calgary.
• The Coyotes welcomed approximately 2,500 U.S. service members and their families to the arena as part of Military Appreciation Night.
Before the game began, U.S. service members unfurled a giant American flag across the neutral zone for the performance of the national anthem by Retired Petty Officer First Class Steven Powell.