Coyotes at Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens have had plenty of time to mull over their last performance and work on a punchless power play as they prepare to host the surging Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday. The Canadiens saw their four-game winning streak come to end with a 5-2 home loss to struggling Philadelphia on Saturday - the fourth setback in their last seven games at Bell Centre.
“If you want to be a playoff team, you want to be in a situation where teams don’t want to come here and play us, but that hasn’t been the case this season,” Montreal's Jonathan Drouin told reporters of his team’s 13-10-2 record at home. “We’ve been playing well on the road (14-8-3, including wins in four of the last five) and we have to figure a way to play the same kind of game here.” The Canadiens are last in the league on the power play (12.6 percent) despite scoring with the man advantage in a 2-1 win on Dec. 20 at Arizona, which leads the NHL in penalty-killing (87.4 percent overall, 88.2 on the road). The Coyotes have put themselves in the race for a wild-card spot in the Western Conference by collecting points in eight of their last nine games (6-1-2) after holding on for 3-2 victory at Ottawa on Tuesday. The win may have come at a bit of cost, though, as second-leading scorer Oliver Ekman-Larsson (26 points) left the game with a lower-body injury and did not return - making his status for the game in Montreal uncertain.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS Arizona, Sportsnet One, RDS (Montreal)
ABOUT THE COYOTES (23-22-4): Vinnie Hinostroza, who scored in Sunday’s win at Toronto, recorded two goals and an assist in the victory over Ottawa while Richard Panik registered a pair of assists - giving him four points in as many games. Clayton Keller scored in the previous two contests to push his team-leading total to 34 points but was kept off the scoresheet on Tuesday. Darcy Kuemper has played a big part in Arizona’s revival by going 6-0-2 with a .928 save percentage this month, but he is expected to give way to backup Calvin Pickard on Wednesday after making 25 saves to beat Ottawa.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (27-18-5): Montreal was tied for sixth in the league in 5-on-5 goals (112) and power-play opportunities (159) entering Tuesday and is 2-for-27 with the man advantage in its last 11 contests. “Just talking about it is beating a dead horse, right?” leading scorer Max Domi told the Montreal Gazette. “We know what we have to do. It’s just keep it simple, shoot pucks and just trust the system, and that’s how we’re going to have to play.” Domi has landed on the scoresheet in four straight games and tops the Canadiens with 44 points while Brendan Gallagher leads the way with 19 goals.
OVERTIME
1. Montreal G Carey Price, who has allowed a total of three goals while winning his last three starts, is 10-1-0 with a .931 save percentage in his career versus the Coyotes.
2. Arizona C Derek Stepan reached double figures in goals Tuesday and has collected five points in his last five contests.
3. Canadiens LW Paul Byron (10 goals) will serve the final contest of the three-game suspension he received for an illegal hit against Florida.