Coyotes to face defending champs

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In a matter of days, the Coyotes are going from the ground floor to the penthouse. They defeated the Los Angeles Kings, one of the NHL's worst teams last season, in their season opener Saturday and now travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Stanley Cup-champion Penguins today.

"It's a challenge," coach Dave Tippettsaid. "For our group, we want to start moving up in the pecking order within the league, and when you play the defending champions . . . anytime you go up and play well, measure yourself against them, that's a good opportunity."

The best-case scenario would be for the Coyotes to take a quick lead and at least quiet the sellout crowd to a mild roar. But with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal and a strong backup cast, that's a tough chore.

Tippet said it's essential to start quickly in every game, noting that an arena's energy is a significant factor.

"When you look at Pittsburgh, I played there, they've got great fans there, they're the defending champions, so they have a lot of energy in the building to start with," he said.

"But from our stance, we've got to go in there and have a great start, play well, just do the things that make us a good team and find a way to win a road game."

Tippett said "it's not realistic" to count on one or two players to shut down superstars.

"You have to have a real team mind-set, a plan in place and move forward. I think we have a group that's willing to check hard . . . so that's what we're looking for."

Center Robert Lang said the noise at an arena helps. He recalled the din at Staples Center in the Coyotes' 6-3 opening-night win.

"Anytime you get a good start, like we did in LA, or whenever you get up a couple goals, it sort of takes the wind out of the other team," he said. "It's nice, you calm down, you're pretty confident, and you usually tend to make good plays."

Lang had about 15 minutes of ice time against the Kings, playing for the first time since surgery to repair a sliced Achilles' tendon eight months ago, and he said he felt good about that. Anything beyond that, he said, would have been pushing it.

"You just want to ease into and make sure the body holds up and everything, and ease into it the right way," he said.

Tippett said he would not overextend Lang or any player because the pace he wants in a game would be compromised.

 

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Coyotes say it's 'us vs. everybody'


The desert is proof that life can sprout in the most-dire conditions. In Glendale, a group of players with giant chips on their shoulders hope to prove that success can be found amid a wasteland of court documents, fan apathy and uncertainty.

"We have that 'us against everybody' thing going," Coyotes captain Shane Doan said, "and we're trying to use it as much as we can."

They used it in a surprising, 6-3 season-opening victory in Los Angeles and hope for the same against the defending Stanley Cup-champion Pittsburgh Penguins tonight. They are securely locked into one-game-at-a-time mode as their future remains in ludicrous limbo. Their on-ice promise is a welcome respite from a shameful off-season that tarnished the reputation of a league, a fan base and an ambassador of the game.

A visit to bankruptcy court that stifled Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie's attempt to purchase the team gave the NHL's monster struggle to survive in the sunbelt a national stage and challenged the league's veracity with the revelation that it had been funding the Coyotes all season.

The Phoenix fan base was ridiculed, particularly in Canada, for projecting an air of apathy about the team's uncertain future.

And Wayne Gretzky was vilified for his cronyism and inability to get the Coyotes into the playoffs, overshadowing his brilliant contributions to the sport and the role he played in expansion.

Sordid. All if it.

Yet the on-ice product is in better shape than most believe - the majority of preseason projections have the Coyotes ranked at or near the bottom - and sports a surprising amount of poise and focus.

A big reason is the hiring of former Dallas Stars coach Dave Tippett. He brings credibility, he brings a steady hand, and he brings an utter, no-nonsense approach. He won't call out players in the media, but he'll be blunt with them behind closed doors. Untimely penalties will keep players out of the game. Just ask forward Scottie Upshall, who did not return to the ice in the Kings game after a third-period holding call.

"Nobody is bigger than the team concept; I truly believe that," Tippett said.

That Tippett didn't have to take this job was a positive message to Coyotes players. He had two years remaining on his contract with a Stars organization that fired him after missing the playoffs for the first time in six seasons, two Pacific Division titles notwithstanding. Surely, better opportunities would have presented themselves.

"I thought it was a challenge, and I'm always up for a challenge," Tippett said. "Plus, I was encouraged by the leadership they had, my (familiarity) with the coaching staff and the veterans players they have."

It's early, but the team appears to be embracing his pedigree and his ability to shift their focus away from the three-ring circus.

What got lost in the Ringling Bros. atmosphere was a decent on-ice foundation. It starts with Ilya Bryzgalov, the quirky 29-year-old who offers a solid base at goalie. Throw in a quality group of defensemen in Ed Jovanovski, Zbynek Michalek, Kurt Sauer and new addition Adrian Aucoin.

Too much was expected of the young players last season, but their experience in the trenches should serve them well. If anything, Martin Hanzal, Keith Yandle and Peter Mueller are a positive nod to Gretzky's legacy.

And take a minute to applaud Doan, the loyal soldier who has stayed with this team through what has been mostly lows and continues to produce. Even if he delivers numbers like last season's team highs in goals (31) and assists (42), he'll need help, a message Tippett continues to preach to this group.

"I've been very enthused at how the team is trying to buy into what we're doing," Tippett said. "Of course, any time you get a new coach come in, you get full attention, but still, we're positive about the direction we're going."

It was a cruel, cruel summer. Early indications suggest fall and winter will be a lot less offensive.

 

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Who to watch

Penguins LW Chris Kunitz has posted nine goals and 20 points in 27 career games against Phoenix. However, his most impressive statistic against the Coyotes is not those or his plus-10 rating, but Anaheim's 18-4-5 record against Phoenix with Kunitz in the lineup. This will be Kunitz's first game against Phoenix with the Penguins.

Trends n'at

The Penguins own a 36-25-3 all-time series advantage but lost at Phoenix last season in the clubs' only meeting. ... New Coyotes coach Dave Tippett was 1-4-0 against the Penguins while with the Dallas Stars from 2002-09. ... The Penguins were 4-0-1 against Western Conference teams last season under coach Dan Bylsma.

Make a note

The Penguins were 5-4-3 last season in the first of back-to-back games. They are already 1-0 this season. The Penguins play at Philadelphia on Thursday night.

 

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New Pens add much-needed grit to squad

The Penguins have made sticking up for one another a habit over the past few years.

During a two-minute span Saturday against the New York Islanders, it became evident that two of the newer Penguins will only add to that accountability.

Mike Rupp and Jay McKee both dropped the gloves in the first period against the Islanders. McKee's actions were a direct result of Ruslan Fedotenko absorbing a vicious check from New York defenseman Brendan Witt.

Many of the Penguins players were impressed by how quickly McKee and Rupp asserted themselves.

"That kind of stuff doesn't go unnoticed, that's for sure," defenseman Brooks Orpik said. "Especially for new guys to do that, it's a good indication they're good teammates."

Witt, who has a long history of targeting center Evgeni Malkin, knocked Fedotenko out of the final 10 minutes of the first period. Many of the Penguins players, including Orpik, acknowledged that Witt's hit was clean.

Malkin, though, confronted Witt following the hit. Moments later, McKee ripped off his gloves and attacked Witt. McKee was given 17 minutes worth of penalties, and the Penguins found themselves down two men for two minutes, during which the Islanders scored.

"You don't want to end up down two men for that long," Orpik said. "Against a lot of teams, that's pretty much an automatic goal."

Developing team toughness, however, might be viewed as more important than allowing a 5-on-3 power play in October.

Rupp fought Tim Jackman only two minutes before the Witt melee occurred.

The former New Jersey center insisted he wasn't going out of his way to earn his new teammates' respect, but was just doing his job.

"That's part of hockey, and I've never been one to shy away from that kind of stuff," he said. "It's just part of my game."

While Rupp's toughness during his first two games in Pittsburgh has surely earned the respect of his new teammates, he has already been impressed with the Penguins. And not just the tough guys.

He noticed that Malkin was the first player to Fedotenko's side.

"I like that a lot," Rupp said. "I like that Geno is willing to stick up for himself and for everyone else."

Rupp also commented that, while the Penguins are known for their superstars, they play the game with a physical edge.

"That was one thing I really noticed about them last year," he said. "They were so much harder to play against because they had become so much more physical."

Captain Sidney Crosby appreciates that two of his newest teammates have been so willing to offer protection. Through two games, Rupp, McKee and Eric Godard have all been assessed five-minute majors for fighting.

"We want to be tough and bring that physical presence," Crosby said. "It shows they're sticking up for guys. It's important."

There is growing sentiment around the NHL that too many players are taking offense to clean hits.

If the Penguins would have preferred McKee avoid taking the multiple penalties, they weren't saying.

"It's a fine line," Orpik said. "You like what our guys did. And it's one thing if it's one of your star guys. You'll go out of your way to stick up for him."

Penguins coach Dan Bylsma acknowledged that players taking exception to clean hits is becoming a league-wide issue.

Team toughness, though, is something he clearly believes in.

"In the game of hockey," he said, "there's always been an idea that if you act and play a certain way, the other team may take exception to that."