Lightning at Coyotes
The Arizona Coyotes have gained a little momentum after a frustrating start to the season and hope to build more confidence when they host the red-hot Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. The Coyotes scored just three times while losing four of their first five games but have totaled 15 goals while winning three of their last four after Thursday’s 4-1 triumph over Vancouver.
“We were gripping (the sticks) a little bit tight when we weren’t scoring, and it was the difference in some games,” Arizona defenseman Alex Goligoski told reporters. “We dug ourselves a hole when we were 1-4. You can’t get behind early in the season, we know that all too well.” The Coyotes, who began 2017-18 with just two wins in their first 20 games, hope to even their record at 5-5-0 by beating the Lightning for the fourth time in five meetings. Tampa Bay has won three in a row after Friday’s 3-2 victory at Vegas and earned at least one point in seven straight (6-0-1), but it could be without two key players for Saturday’s matchup. Reigning Norris Trophy winner Victor Hedman left the contest against the Golden Knights in first period and Ondrej Palat did not finish the game due to undisclosed injuries, and their status for the finale of the Lightning's five-game road trip is uncertain.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FS Sun (Tampa Bay), FS Arizona
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (7-1-1): Brayden Point scored his team-high sixth goal Friday and shares the club lead of nine points with Nikita Kucherov and J.T. Miller. Kucherov, who was kept off the scoresheet in the first two contests of the season, has strung together a seven-game point streak during which he has recorded three goals and six assists. Andrei Vasilevskiy has allowed two goals on 53 shots in Tampa Bay's last two games, but former Coyote Louis Domingue is expected to be in net Saturday after posting a .934 save percentage while winning his first two contests of the season.
ABOUT THE COYOTES (4-5-0): Clayton Keller has recorded all four of his goals in the last four contests, including the go-ahead tally against Vancouver as Arizona scored three times in the third period of the opener of its five-game homestand. “The first two periods, I didn’t think he was good,” coach Rick Tocchet told reporters of Keller on Thursday. “But he dug in, he scored the big goal for us, and he actually played good in the third. That’s what you need in this league. Even the great teams, they have an off-night, but they find a way to win it.” Christian Fischer, 21, has netted each of his four tallies in the last three games.
OVERTIME
1. Tampa Bay D Ryan McDonagh played a season-high 27 minutes in Friday’s win and blocked five shots, improving his team-best total to 21.
2. Arizona G Antti Raanta (2-4-0, .911 save percentage), who sat out the last two games due to illness, could be back in net Saturday.
3. The Lightning and Coyotes share the league lead with just two power-play goals allowed, but the former has faced 17 more short-handed situations.