Coyotes at Flames
With the Arizona Coyotes in a full-fledged rebuild, the team made the move to trade veteran goaltender Mike Smith to the Calgary Flames in the offseason. Smith has started all but three games this season for the Flames and will face his former team for the first time when Calgary hosts the last-place Coyotes on Thursday night.
Smith has been inconsistent in his first season in Alberta and has played better overall on the road, sporting a 2.19 goals-against average and .941 save percentage as opposed to marks of 3.06 and .901 at home. Calgary has dropped three of four overall (1-2-1) and is coming off a 4-1 setback to Toronto on Tuesday in the opener of a four-game homestand. Arizona failed to earn a regulation win in its first 20 games this season but has since gone 4-2-1 following a 3-2 overtime loss at Edmonton on Tuesday. In the last meeting between the teams, the Coyotes rolled to a 5-0 victory at Calgary on Feb. 13 behind a 36-save performance from Smith to end a five-game losing streak in the series.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FSN Arizona, Sportsnet360 (Calgary)
ABOUT THE COYOTES (6-17-4): Defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson was forced from Tuesday's game at Edmonton due to an upper-body injury and is listed as day-to-day, but coach Rick Tocchet expects him to miss the next two games. Antti Raanta (upper body) remains sidelined, which means a fourth consecutive start for Scott Wedgewood, who bounced back from getting yanked in Vegas on Saturday with a solid performance versus the Oilers. "Wedgie was really good for us," forward Christian Fischer said. "He got the point for us."
ABOUT THE FLAMES (13-10-1): Forward Kris Versteeg (lower body), who missed the past two games, was placed on injured reserve as the team seeks a second opinion on his injury, coach Glen Gulutzan said. Calgary recalled forward Garnet Hathaway, who was off to a hot start with Stockton of the American Hockey League, notching 11 goals and eight assists in 18 games. "Anywhere he'll play he's going to be a factor," center Mark Jankowski said. "That's the good thing about him -- he can be a factor on any line, he can play with anyone."
OVERTIME
1. Flames leading scorer Johnny Gaudreau has one goal and four assists in his last eight games versus Arizona.
2. Coyotes F Clayton Keller leads the team with 11 goals but hasn't scored in 11 games.
3. Flames LW Sam Bennett missed practice Wednesday to get stitches in his face but it expected to play Thursday.