ESPN NHL

It may be important not to overreact after one game, but Phoenix Coyotes coach Dave Tippett knows his team needs to make significant improvements following an embarrassing performance in its opener.

The Coyotes try to bounce back and avoid opening with back-to-back losses for the first time in six years Monday afternoon against the Dallas Stars.

Phoenix was dominated from the outset in Saturday's 6-3 loss to San Jose. The Coyotes (0-1-0) were outshot 19-4 in the first period in falling behind 2-0, and trailed 6-1 after two periods.

"It was embarrassing," captain Shane Doan said. "It's not the way you want to start."

Phoenix had no answer for the Sharks, who fired 52 shots and scoring three power-play goals on six chances. All the defensive breakdowns for the Coyotes made things awfully tough on new goaltender Mike Smith, who stopped a career-high 46 shots.

"We got some concerns," Tippett said. "We have to be better, execute better, compete better, react in situations better and quicker. We have some people behind a little bit and we have to see if we can get them up to speed."

One bright spot for the Coyotes, who had won their last five season openers, was their power play. They were 3 for 7 with the man advantage with Doan scoring twice and Oliver Ekman-Larsson notching the other.

Phoenix, which last opened with consecutive losses in 2005-06, was 23rd in the league on the power play last season, converting on 15.9 percent.

It could be tough for the Coyotes to carry their man-advantage success to Dallas, however. The Stars (1-1-0) limited Chicago to one power-play goal in 11 opportunities in a weekend home-and-home set.

Dallas opened the season with a 2-1 home win over the Blackhawks on Friday, but followed that with a 5-2 loss in Chicago 24 hours later. Vernon Fiddler and Steve Ott scored Saturday for the Stars, who were outshot 25-9 in the first two periods.

"One of the most disappointing things you can get is when you get outworked," new Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said. "And I thought we were outworked a little bit."

Gulutzan went with backup goalie Andrew Raycroft in the second game of the back-to-back, but is expected to return to starter Kari Lehtonen against Phoenix.

Lehtonen was superb in the opener, stopping 37 shots and surrendering only Nick Leddy's goal with 13.6 seconds left. He had a 1.98 goals-against average against the Coyotes last season, but went 2-1-2.

Phoenix was 4-2-0 against the Stars last season, with Doan scoring three times and assisting on three goals.

Dallas' Loui Eriksson had three goals and four assists against the Coyotes in 2010-11, while Jamie Benn scored three goals.