{coyotes} Tippett: Embellishment turning game 'dishonest'

Phoenix Coyotes coach Dave Tippett carefully parsed his words when asked about the officiating in Thursday's 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings.

After all, with big fines already levied this season against New York Rangers coach John Tortorella and others, he didn't want to lighten his wallet.

But what followed was an appraisal about players trying to draw penalties.

"The game is turning a little dishonest and it's embellishment by players," he told reporters in his postgame news conference in Los Angeles. "When it's done well, it's very hard for the referees, very hard, because if you fall down near the boards or you drop your stick or you throw your head back, you're putting the referee in a very tough situation."

The Coyotes, who fell behind 1-0 early in the third period, managed only four shots because they were short-handed three times. Oliver Ekman-Larsson was called for retaliating against Kings captain Dustin Brown. Tippett was seen shaking his head after captain Shane Doan was called for holding after Drew Doughty was penalized for driving him to the ice.

"We saw more than one penalty out there for us and against us that were called that I thought were plays where there was embellishment," Tippett continued. "It's too bad it has to go that way. It's too bad you get to this point in the season that that becomes a factor, but it's the reality of our game right now."

Asked in his news conference about Tippett's remarks, Kings coach Darryl Sutter disagreed: "I didn't see that. We didn't complain last game. There wasn't that many power plays, so obviously we're doing something right."

Tippett implied that his players embellished, too.

"In actual fact, to make it work to your favor, you got to do it more," he said. "You got to do it. If everybody else is doing it, you better do it, too."

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