Coyotes at Ducks
THE STORY: Mike Smith and the Phoenix Coyotes hope history is on their side when they visit the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday. The Coyotes, who lost 2-0 at home to Los Angeles on Thursday and have dropped two straight, are looking for a lift that Smith may be able to provide. He is 3-0-0 with a .944 save percentage and 1.38 goals against average against Anaheim in his career. Smith will face some angry Ducks, who had their four-game winning streak snapped Friday with a 3-1 loss to Dallas. Anaheim has scored only 11 goals in its first six games, but solid goaltending from Jonas Hiller and Dan Ellis has helped the Ducks to their best start since 2006-07, when they won the Stanley Cup. Phoenix captain Shane Doan, whose next goal will be his 300th, has five of his team-high seven points in three road games, including three goals.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, Prime Ticket (Anaheim), FS Arizona (Phoenix), NHL Network (Canada)
ABOUT THE COYOTES (2-3-1): Phoenix’s Andy Miele is expected to make his NHL debut. The 2011 Hobey Baker winner from Miami (Ohio) had three goals and four assists in four games with Portland of the American Hockey League. Phoenix’s power play is 5 for 27 (18.5 percent); it was 23rd, 15.9 last season. Ray Whitney, 39, playing his 20th season, had his three-game goal streak snapped Thursday.
ABOUT THE DUCKS (4-2-0): Hart Trophy winner Corey Perry has a goal in three straight games, including Friday when he scored with one-tenth of a second left in the second period. Perry scored six of his 50 goals last season against Phoenix, his most against any team. Anaheim’s power play is 3 for 25 (12 percent) – it finished third at 23.5 last season. The Ducks, though, have killed 23 of 26 penalties.
OVERTIME:
1. The over is 6-1 in Phoenix’s last seven against a winning team.
2. Phoenix won three of the last four meetings in 2010-11, outscoring Anaheim 15-7.