Coyotes at Kings
THE STORY: The Phoenix Coyotes and Los Angeles Kings both hit the midway point of their seasons Thursday when the Pacific Division rivals face off at the Staples Center. Phoenix will be concluding its four-game road trip during which it lost two of its first three contests. The Coyotes have dropped five of six overall. Los Angeles is 1-0-1 on its six-game homestand and 3-0-1 in the last four in its own building. The Kings have earned at least one point in every game since Darryl Sutter took over as coach, going 4-0-3. Los Angeles has collected 11 of a possible 12 points over its last six meetings with Phoenix and has posted a 2-0-1 mark thus far in this season's six-game series.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FSN Plus Arizona (Phoenix), FSN West, NHL Network-California (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE COYOTES (19-17-4): Mike Smith made his return from a groin injury Tuesday, stopping 27 shots in a 4-1 loss to the Blues in St. Louis. Smith, who missed six games, has lost seven of his last 10 starts. Marc-Antoine Pouliot registered three shots on goal and a minus-1 rating as he made his Coyotes debut in Tuesday's setback. Pouliot, who was acquired from Tampa Bay for a draft pick in June, has notched 21 goals and 32 assists over 180 games in a career during which he spent the first five seasons with Edmonton.
ABOUT THE KINGS (19-14-7): Despite entering Wednesday atop the Pacific Division, Los Angeles has sputtered offensively this season. The Kings are tied with the division basement-dwelling Anaheim Ducks for last in scoring with 87 goals apiece and have netted more than three goals only twice in their last 21 games. Defenseman Slava Voynov missed Monday's shootout loss to Colorado and is questionable for Thursday with an upper-body injury.
OVERTIME:
1. The Coyotes have fared better on the road than at home this season. Phoenix is 12-9-1 away from home and 7-8-3 at Jobing.com Arena.
2. The home team is 40-19-6 in the last 65 meetings between the clubs.