"Losing close games, including those that were seconds away from being victories, has taken a toll on the Coyotes, and reversing that trend is just one of the challenges facing them after the All-Star break.

"We have to continue to get better; there's a bunch of things," coach Dave Tippett said. "Our home record, you'd certainly like to improve that. Our schedule's in our favor that way -- that if we play well at home we can push ourselves right back in a playoff spot.

"The other thing, is we've lost too many close games this year. We've given away a lot of those early in the year, those goals at the end of the games, things like that, those are points you have to have. We let some get away so we're going to have to get more than our fair share the second half.""