Preview: Coyotes at Blackhawks
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[December 06, 2016]
The Arizona Coyotes attempt to
send the Western Conference-leading Chicago Blackhawks to a
season-high third consecutive loss and end a slide of their own when
they conclude two-game, two-day road trip Tuesday. Chicago, which is
one point behind Montreal for first overall in the league, has
dropped two straight contests three times this season, including
this past weekend as it suffered a 3-1 loss in Philadelphia on
Saturday and was edged 2-1 by Winnipeg a day later at home.
The Blackhawks are 3-2-1 without captain Jonathan Toews, who is
sidelined with an apparent back injury, but have scored only 11
goals in that span and a total of 12 in their last eight contests.
Arizona, meanwhile, enters with a four-game winless streak (0-2-2)
after suffering a 4-1 setback in Columbus on Monday that ended its
five-game road point streak (2-0-3). Tobias Rieder scored the lone
goal for the Coyotes - his second in three contests - to climb
within one of team leader Radim Vrbata (eight), who had his
five-game point streak come to an end. Arizona has scored more than
two goals just once in its last seven road contests.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FSN Arizona Plus, CSN Chicago
ABOUT THE COYOTES (8-12-4): Captain Shane Doan will become the 93rd
player in NHL history to reach the 400-goal plateau with his next
tally and needs one assist to snap a tie with Thomas Steen (553) for
first place on the franchise list. Brendan Perlini, the 12th overall
pick in the 2014 draft, made his NHL debut on Monday and was called
for a minor penalty in 13 minutes, 45 seconds of ice time. "It was
pretty special," the 20-year-old native of Great Britain told
reporters. "Obviously, it would have been nice to get a win, but in
the same sense, it was good to get out there with the guys."
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ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS (16-8-3): In addition to Toews, Chicago has
been without Corey Crawford for the last two games and will not get
its No. 1 goaltender back for two-to-three weeks as he underwent an
emergency appendectomy on Saturday. The Blackhawks were forced to
sign Pennsylvania native Eric Semborski to an amateur tryout
contract so he could serve as Scott Darling's backup against the
Flyers and recalled Lars Johansson from Rockford of the American
Hockey League on Sunday to fill that role versus the Jets. Artemi
Panarin scored the lone goal for Chicago in the loss to Winnipeg,
giving him 100 points in 107 career games.
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OVERTIME
1. Coyotes G Mike Smith, who was rested Monday after making a
franchise-record - and career-high - 58 saves two nights earlier,
will start against the Blackhawks.
2. Chicago RW Marian Hossa leads the team with 12 goals but has
scored only once in his last eight contests.
3. Arizona LW Anthony Duclair, who has recorded one goal in 23 games
after scoring 20 as a rookie last season, was a healthy scratch
versus the Blue Jackets.
PREDICTION: Blackhawks 4, Coyotes 2
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