Coyotes awful in preseason home debut

After four hard days of practice, the Coyotes were supposed to get a day off following Tuesday's preseason game at America West Arena.

That was before Phoenix decided to take its break early, and didn't show up for a 6-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings — a complete rout that wasn't as close as the final score indicated.

“Our plans just changed in a hurry,'' Phoenix coach Bob Francis said afterward. “That was unacceptable.”

And almost unwatchable for an announced crowd of 8,772. Just 10 days before the regular season opens against St. Louis, the Coyotes were pitiful on every front. Wearing their new red home jerseys for the first time, the players had red faces to match afterward.

“That was embarrassing,” captain Shane Doan said. “It was a complete waste.”

The offense disappeared after Daymond Langkow pitch-forked in a goal 2:54 into the game. After collecting the first six shots of the game, Phoenix was outshot, 37-10, the rest of the way.

The defense allowed Doug Brown, a 19-year-old junior player, to score twice, add an assist and dominate several Coyote veterans down low. Brad Ference fell down allowing Alexander Frolov to skate in for another goal. Jan Hrdina pushed his defender into goalie Sean Burke as Jon Sim's second goal of the game fluttered over Burke's shoulder.

Burke allowed five goals in the first 24 shots, including goals by Brown just 12 seconds apart that put the Kings ahead for good. “I wasn't sharp, a lot of guys weren't sharp. The mistakes were glaring,” said Burke, who has gotten a lot of work in the preseason and will play the finale Saturday against Vancouver. “The only thing to take out of it is I got 60 minutes of work and I didn't get hurt.”

If the Coyotes are going to disprove pundits who slot them as one of the worst teams in the NHL, they are going to have to be a hard-working, smart and tight-knit team. None of that was on display Tuesday — even with 16 regulars in the lineup — as they were routinely beat to lose pucks and took a series of bad penalties in the second period.

“That's going to cost us hockey games,” Langkow said. “We can't talk about it all day long but until we start playing smarter, we're going to kill ourselves. We didn't do any of the simple things right. It's preseason, but this is the time to get ready, gel as a team and get on the same page. “We didn't do any of that.”

There is still time to iron out the kinks — starting at today's unexpected practice.

LOOSE PUCKS: It wasn't all good news for the Kings. Defenseman Brad Norton, slotted among the top-six blueliners for the team, had his lower right forearm sliced by a skate blade during the first period. The blade, which belonged to teammate Brown or Coyote Tyson Nash, sliced through a tendon.

Norton left the ice holding the wound closed with his left hand and was immediately transported to a nearby hospital. Exploratory surgery was scheduled for late Tuesday evening and Kings officials said Norton will likely miss months, if not the whole season . . .

Langkow and winger Mike Johnson each wore an “A'' Tuesday night and will likely be Shane Doan's assistant captains for the season . . .

Goalie Brian Boucher will start and likely play the whole game Thursday against Anaheim, meaning Zac Bierk may not play in any of the final three preseason games. The Coyotes have to leave two of their four goalies — Bierk, Boucher, Burke and minor leaguer Jean-Marc Pelletier — exposed today for the NHL waiver draft and will likely lose one of them Friday.