Lightning at Coyotes
The red-hot Tampa Bay Lightning begin a four-game Western road swing with a marquee goaltending matchup against the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday. Tampa Bay’s Ben Bishop leads the NHL in victories with 13 and has allowed two or fewer goals in 13 of 15 outings, while former Lightning netminder Mike Smith has won eight of his last 10 decisions. The Lightning, who have won nine of 11, are 7-0-0 against the Western Conference and Phoenix owns points in eight of nine games (7-1-1).
The Lightning earned victories in their first two games after losing leading scorer Steven Stamkos to a broken right tibia. “Everybody is waiting for the slipper to fall off,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “That was our big message to the guys. We can be looked at a one-man team, or a team.” The Lightning face a Phoenix squad ranked near the top of the league in scoring after it finished 21st last season.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, CW-44 (Tampa Bay), FSN Arizona (Phoenix)
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (14-5-0): Center Valtteri Filppula has made a big impression in his first season in Tampa Bay, collecting eight goals and 15 points in his first 19 games. Filppula has been key for both special-team units and fit comfortably with several different linemates. Captain Martin St. Louis had gone five games without a point before posting three in the 5-1 victory over Anaheim on Thursday and Teddy Purcell, who has three points in 13 games, must pick it up with Stamkos out.
ABOUT THE COYOTES (13-4-3): Phoenix is off to its best 20-game start since it registered a 15-3-2 record in 1998-99, scoring 3.15 goals per contest after averaging 2.52 last season. Defensemen Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Keith Yandle lead the Coyotes with 16 points while captain Shane Doan boasts nine goals and 15 points. Blue-liner Zbynek Michalek, who has a plus-9 rating, left the 5-4 shootout loss to Chicago on Thursday with a lower-body injury and is questionable for Saturday.
OVERTIME
1. Lightning D Radko Gudas is among the league leaders in hits (70) and penalty minutes (61).
2. Phoenix and Tampa Bay led the league with a combined 24 goals in the third period and overtime through Thursday’s games.
3. Tampa Bay is 6-0-0 in games that have gone beyond regulation, while Phoenix has won five of eight in extra time.