Rick Tocchet did enough winning in Pittsburgh that he couldn't have been expected to enjoy losing in any context. So when the Penguins, his former team, beat his Coyotes, 3-1, Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena, he wasn't about to turn all misty-eyed.
Not after giving up six of the game's seven power plays.
"That's the worst-case scenario," Tocchet said afterward. "You do that, and it's tough to win in any building."
He's learning that across the continent this season. Arizona's now an NHL-worst 2-13-2, and the past 48 hours alone brought a 3-2 overtime loss in Washington and now this. The Coyotes have some quality young talent up front and a stud defenseman in Oliver Ekman-Larsson, but it hasn't amounted to much. As this game illustrated, their attack was disjointed and seldom ventured near Matt Murray's crease.
The Penguins wound up with a 37-25 edge in shots, while the Coyotes had an additional 25 attempts get blocked, a powerful indicator they weren't exactly plowing through traffic. And for Tocchet, who once made his NHL living doing precisely that, it's sounding increasingly unacceptable.
"You know, I've been here a couple months," Tocchet said after this game. "And the one thing I've noticed is that ... we don't want to be a perimeter team. You've got to go to the net. You've got to be good along the walls. That's something that we as an organization have to get better at. I've got to teach it better. You can't win in this league unless you have people go to the net or you win battles along the wall."
For what it's worth, the rest of the day seemed to be a general joy for the man who won one Stanley Cup here as Mario Lemieux's right winger in 1992, plus two more as an assistant coach each of the past two summers.
In the afternoon, he was presented his ring by Jim Rutherford and Mike Sullivan. He also seized the chance to catch up with a few of the players and staff, including an extended conversation with Sullivan in the hallway connecting the arena's two locker rooms.
"I got that," Tocchet would say later with a slight grin, "so that can cheer me up a little."
And then, per the norm for visiting personnel of note, the Penguins played a tribute video during a break in the first period that, upon completion, drew a loud, standing ovation from the crowd, as well as stick taps on the ice from both teams. Phil Kessel, maybe Tocchet's main pupil while here, stood a few feet in front of the Arizona bench and faced Tocchet as he tapped his blade forcefully on the ice with both hands.
Tocchet, in turn, waved his arms to the crowd and, at one point, turned around and thumped the glass behind him.
"It's a great place. A great place," he said after the game of the video and ovation. "I love it here. A lot of good memories. And I saw a lot of good people here before the game. So that was nice. A lot of classy people around here."
This was the scene, per each team's Twitter account:
This video just ran in-game. Players on both teams offering stick taps to @RealRocket22. Thanks for everything, Tocc! pic.twitter.com/5UNFSeXlJY
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) November 8, 2017
A standing O for Coach Tocchet ? pic.twitter.com/HQNdqcaDpS
— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) November 8, 2017
The Penguins spoke effusively about Tocchet following the morning skate.
"Tocc’s a guy that he’s had a huge influence on our coaching staff, on our players and helping us win championships," Sullivan said. "What I always admired about Tocc is when you work with a guy like him, he’s not just a yes man. He has strong convictions. He shares his opinions. He challenges me as a coach — I’ve learned a lot from him in the years that I’ve worked with him. ... He’s a great friend, he’s a loyal guy. He’s fun to work with. I can’t say enough about him. He’s just a terrific person. We certainly miss him."
"He was awesome for myself," Conor Sheary said. "He was a great assistant coach and he really helped me develop and helped me with my game. He has to move on to move up, but it’s a good thing. I think his job on the bench was kind of a middleman between the coach and the players. He always did a good job of keeping me calm, keeping me working hard and keeping me humble. I can thank him for a lot of those things."
"He was a great assistant coach when he was here," Carl Hagelin said. "A great person, a good hockey mind. Just overall a competitor."
Staff writer Katie Brown contributed to this report.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Penguins vs Coyotes, PPG Paints Arena, Nov. 7, 2017. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS