Canucks at Coyotes
THE STORY: Two hot teams clash Friday as the Phoenix Coyotes host the Vancouver Canucks. Vancouver has won five of its last seven games overall and three of four on the road. Phoenix has captured four of its last six contests and are 4-1-2 in its last seven at home. One of the hottest members of the Coyotes is Radim Vrbata, who has scored five goals over his last three games. Vrbata leads Phoenix with 11 goals, a number that took him 49 contests to attain last season. Vrbata is eight tallies away from matching last season's total.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, Rogers Sportsnet Pacific (Vancouver), FSN Arizona (Phoenix)
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (11-9-1): Roberto Luongo deemed himself ready to play after missing two games with an upper body injury but served as Cory Schneider's backup in Wednesday's 3-0 victory over the Avalanche in Colorado. Luongo, who has not played since Nov. 13, could be on the bench again as Schneider enters having allowed one goal on 53 shots in winning his last two contests. He made 24 saves Wednesday en route to his second career shutout.
ABOUT THE COYOTES (11-6-3): Daymond Langkow is expected to return to the lineup Friday after missing seven games due to death in the family. Langkow has recorded three goals and eight points in 13 contests this season. Mike Smith has been superb over his last 10 games, posting an 8-1-1 record and 1.87 goals-against average. Smith suffered a 2-1 loss in his only career start against the Canucks back in November 2006 while with the Dallas Stars. Vrbata scored two goals for the second time in three contests in Wednesday's 4-2 triumph over the Anaheim Ducks.
OVERTIME:
1. Wednesday's victory over Colorado was Alain Vigneault's 247th as coach of the Canucks, moving him ahead of Marc Crawford for first place on the club's all-time list.
2. The road team has won four straight meetings in the all-time series.