Dave Tippett: Coyotes ‘haven’t found consistency’ in 2013

Sometimes a good night’s sleep can serve to change a person’s perspective on things.

For Phoenix Coyotes head coach David Tippett, that doesn’t seem to have been the case following the team’s worst loss of the season Thursday night, a 6-2 home ice drubbing at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks.

After the blowout, Tippett candidly called out team leaders Shane Doan and Keith Yandle for “yapping” penalties and referred to the night as “a good slap in the face”.

And the sting from that proverbial slap was still evident at practice Friday, as a rather terse Tippett discussed what he hopes his squad took away from their listless performance against Chicago.

“I hope they were holding themselves accountable,” Tippett said. “We had a video session that there was some accountability in. We reinforced a little bit, if they even reinforced themselves that’s a good thing. It came from the coaches I know, whether it tricked down I don’t know.”

For Tippett, Thursday’s four-goal defeat was head-scratching from the standpoint that the team looked to have finally turned a corner after reeling off two impressive wins against the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild. But as he expressed Friday, it’s been hockey the inconsistent way so far in 2013.

“We’re making too many mistakes at the wrong time, too many penalties,” said Tippett. “I mean it’s all of the above, all of those little things you need consistency in. We haven’t found that consistency yet.”

The road doesn’t get any easier for the Coyotes, as they are set to play three straight away from Jobing.com Arena. This season, Phoenix has struggled as the visitor going 0-2-1. However, Tippett believes his team is capable of pushing the reset button following a forgettable 60 minutes of hockey.

“I think it’ll be great for us to get on the road,” said Tippett. “We spoke about some issues from our game last night (against the Blackhawks) and hopefully they got corrected. We’re going to put those behind us and get ready for San Jose.”

The Coyotes are all to familiar with the Sharks and HP Pavilion Arena this season. Back on January 24, Phoenix held a 3-1 lead over San Jose in the third period before yielding four unanswered goals in the final 13:06 of the contest.

Phoenix was not afforded a healthy Mike Smith in goal that night, but regardless of who the netminder is Saturday afternoon, Tippett said the team will have to collectively play a more polished game.

“You go on the road and you play a simple, strong game,” said Tippett. “Just stay out of the penalty box and you have a good chance of winning.”