'Yotes Notes: Tocchet Wants PP to be More Aggressive

GLENDALE -- The Coyotes are rolling as they head into their November schedule boasting four wins in a row, the NHL's stingiest defense and a goal-scoring outburst that's produced 27 in the past six games.
However, Head Coach Rick Tocchet is looking for more production from the team's power-play unit, which is late to the party and needs to improve quickly. Simply put, Tocchet wants the group to attack more and not be so predictable. Arizona ranks next-to-last in the League in power-play efficiency at 12.9 percent.

"I told them the other day, they have to think more five-on-five mentality," Tocchet said after Thursday's practice. "We have a couple guys, they think set up - 'let's set this up.' I've coached power plays for the last 15 years and when you have that 'set up' in your head it's dangerous. It's not a good way of thinking. I think we have to be aggressive, pretend it's a five-on-five, work hard. You beat a PK pressure, there's nothing that drives a coach nuts (more than) when a guy sets it up again. You should attack the net."
Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored a power-play goal vs. Ottawa on Tuesday night that pleased Tocchet in its simplicity. Ekman-Larsson took a pass from Clayton Keller up high in the zone, skated the puck down to the top of the slot and then launched it on net through a goalie screen provided by Derek Stepan.

"I think we're getting better, and it was nice to see 'O' attack that," Tocchet said. "It wasn't very sexy, but it was effective. I think it's something we really have to engrain in our heads."
He added: "I don't want us to be robotic. As a coach, the power play, I think you can over-coach it, and if you give guys too many plays then that's all they think about. So, we've got to be careful. The coaches, too, we've got to make sure we give them different concepts to keep them fresh."
• The Coyotes already have scored six short-handed goals in just 11 games. At this rate, they'd finish with 45 shorties over 82 games. That's highly unlikely, of course, but fun to think about.
The NHL record for short-handed goals scored in one season is 36 set by the 1983-84 Edmonton Oilers, who played 80 games. Wayne Gretzky led the way with 12, and 11 of his teammates notched at least one.
The 1988-89 Winnipeg Jets set the Coyotes/Jets franchise record for short-handed goals in one season when they scored 15.
• Should the Coyotes beat Carolina on Friday the win would extend their winning streak to five games - a first since the Phoenix Coyotes won five in a row almost exactly five seasons ago.
"We're still 6-5 and still a long way to go to where we'd like to be, but we've got a good trend going and we want to ride that wave as long as we can," General Manager John Chayka told Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, the team's flagship radio station, on Thursday. "... I believe in the group. Our leaders, guys like Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Nik Hjalmarsson, they continue to push the pace everyday. That's what helps me sleep at night."

• Center Alex Galchenyuk will enter Friday's game with a three-game point streak (one goal, three assists). Chayka said Galchenyuk's presence in the lineup as the top-line center has directly and indirectly helped the Coyotes score 20 goals in the four games he's played - all wins.
"Alex is a talented guy," Chayka said. "He's an offense creator. We had a tough time scoring prior to him getting in the lineup. His shot is such a threat and his offensive ability is extremely high that other teams have to take notice. It just allows for some slotting; some other players can play less minutes, some other players get some minutes to play against the second- or third-pairing defensemen. As that occurs, some guys can get some confidence going ... I think that's made a huge difference."
• Antti Raanta is expected to start in net on Friday and play in his 150th NHL game. Not bad for an undrafted goalie.
"When he's been in there he's been very consistent," Chayka said. "He reads the play extremely well and he gives us a chance to win every single night. That' s all you can ask for from your goaltending. Whether it's been him in net, or (Darcy) Kuemper, we've gotten good goaltending this year and spinning back to last year as well. If you don't have goaltending you really don't have a starting point, so for us to have a good goalie it gives us a foundation to build off of. Antti has been a huge part of that."
Raanta has allowed just one goal in three of his past four starts.

• Defenseman Kevin Connauton, who missed Tuesday's game vs. Ottawa because of illness, did not practice on Thursday. Tocchet said he is "questionable" for Friday's game vs. Carolina.