Sarah McLellan

azcentral sports

Coyotes coach Dave Tippett watched Friday night's game between the Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues and as unhappy as he was with the result – a 3-0 win by the Stars that eliminated the Coyotes from playoff contention – he was equally frustrated that his team left its fate be decided by someone else.

"It's very disappointing the situation we're in," Tippett said Saturday morning at the Ice Den in Scottsdale where a handful of players convened for an optional morning skate before an evening matchup with the San Jose Sharks.

The Coyotes carry a six-game losing streak into that game, which is at least partly to blame for their demise. During that span, a lack of offense was glaring. The Coyotes have scored seven goals during this stretch.

"About a week or 10 days out of the Olympic break, I would have thought we were going to get in," Tippett said. "I really thought we were starting to play the way we had to to get in. For whatever reason, the last few weeks it got derailed."

But issues were prevalent before then. Blown leads were a trademark of this year's group. So was inconsistency. Three consecutive wins in mid-March was the longest win streak of the season after five in a row in late October into early November.

Add in untimely injuries, like the one to goalie Mike Smith who has been sidelined almost three weeks now with an apparent right knee issue, and a rigorous schedule and the Coyotes will be spectators during the playoffs for a second straight season.

"It's really disappointing," Tippett said. "You play to play in the playoffs. That's what you do. I'm sure next week we'll sit down with (General Manager) Don (Maloney) and kind of go through where we are and where we think we have to make changes to get better.

"Ultimately, when you don't make the playoffs, you have to make changes to get better and that'll be the goal. Like every year, you try to get better. When you don't make the playoffs, you gotta make sure you're doing the right things to get you going the right way."