Coyotes at Canucks
With five teams from the Pacific Division involved in the chase for the eight playoff slots in the Western Conference, there is little margin for error, especially in head-to-head matchups among the contending clubs. Holding down the top wild card, the Vancouver Canucks look to end a three-game losing streak against the visiting Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday night.
The Canucks wrapped up a four-game road trip in ugly fashion, blowing a two-goal lead and surrendering four unanswered tallies over the final 7 1/2 minutes in a 5-3 setback at Columbus. "These kind of games just don’t leave you. It’s good that we have two days off to regroup," coach Travis Green said. "This is how you feel after a tough loss in playoff hockey and it’s like playoff hockey right now." Vancouver is kicking off a four-game homestand against the Coyotes, who pulled within two points of the Canucks by storming back from an early two-goal deficit in a 5-2 victory over Buffalo on Saturday. "We've got to go to Vancouver and do the same thing,” Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said. "You just can't do it on whatever the day is, you've got to do it every night, and that's the key now more than ever.”
TIME: 10:30 p.m. ET. TV: FS Arizona, FS Arizona-Plus, Sportsnet Pacific
ABOUT THE COYOTES (32-27-8): Tocchet changed up his lines following the first period versus Buffalo, elevating Clayton Keller to the No. 1 unit alongside Taylor Hall and Christian Dvorak. Keller responded to the move by scoring twice and setting up another goal for the second time in three games to take over the team lead in scoring with 43 points. "I could tell he had it going," Tocchet said. "The last few weeks he has been one of our better forwards. He's out on the ice early before practice and I know he wants to finish strong."
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (34-25-6): J.T. Miller scored once and collected two assists at Columbus to boost his team-leading totals to 26 goals and 68 points, but the third-period collapse was freshest in his mind. “You’ve got to learn from the good and the bad because we can’t let this happen down the stretch anymore -- if we’re being honest with each other,” said Miller, who has five goals and nine assists in nine games. Elias Pettersson matched Miller with a goal and two assists and set up two goals in a 3-1 win versus Arizona on Jan. 16.
OVERTIME
1. Canucks G Thatcher Demko is 7-1-1 with a 2.76 goals-against average at home.
2. Hall has three assists in three meetings this season versus the Canucks and 37 points in 36 career matchups.
3. Vancouver and Arizona will meet three times over the next month.