Panthers at Coyotes
The Phoenix Coyotes look to expand their lead in the Western Conference wild-card race when they host the pesky Florida Panthers on Thursday night. The Coyotes are 6-2-0 in their last eight contests after a 4-3 victory over Los Angeles on Monday and lead Dallas by two points for the second wild-card spot with one more game played than the Stars. Phoenix won at Florida 3-1 on March 11 and the Panthers have responded by scoring 15 goals during a 2-1-1 run since.
Mike Smith stopped 31 shots against Florida nine days ago and boasts a .932 save percentage over his last eight starts for the Coyotes. Phoenix also received a boost Monday from the return of center Martin Hanzal from injury. Roberto Luongo, who has gained at least a point in four of his six games since being reacquired from Vancouver at the trade deadline, turned aside 52 shots to beat San Jose 3-2 on Tuesday.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FSN Florida, FSN Arizona (Phoenix)
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (26-35-8): Brandon Pirri, acquired from Chicago early in March, is among several young players making impacts of late for Florida with seven points in his last five contests. Quinton Howden, a 2010 first-round pick who did not post a point in 18 games last season, also has three goals and an assist in four games since being recalled. The Panthers are without 2013 Calder Trophy winner Jonathan Huberdeau due to an upper-body injury, but 21-year-old Nick Bjugstad has 10 points in the last 12 games.
ABOUT THE COYOTES (33-25-11): Hanzal had an assist in his first game back after missing seven with a lower-body injury and is two points shy of joining a group of six teammates with at least 40. Defenseman Keith Yandle leads the team with 49 points, including 14 in his last 13 contests, and Radim Vrbata has 47 – three in the victory at Florida last week. Antione Vermette tops the team in goals with 22 and captain Shane Doan is among the league’s top 10 in power-play tallies (10) and is one away from his 12th season at least 20 goals.
OVERTIME
1. Phoenix D Oliver Ekman-Larsson has 20 of his 37 points at home with a plus-9 rating and is a minus-7 on the road.
2. Florida LW Scottie Upshall leads the team with a career-high 34 points, topping his previous best of 32 with Phoenix in 2009-10.
3. The Panthers allowed at least one power-play goal in each of the last six games and are last in the league in penalty killing (75.3). Phoenix is 27th at 79.1.