Oilers at Coyotes
General manager Craig MacTavish has decided to take matters into his own hands as he will be behind the bench when his Edmonton Oilers visit the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday. Less than 24 hours after suffering its fourth straight loss and 15th in 16 games, Edmonton fired coach Dallas Eakins on Monday and replaced him on an interim basis with MacTavish, who guided the club to a 301-252-56 record with 47 ties from 2000-09 - including a Stanley Cup final appearance in 2006. The Oilers suffered a 2-0 home loss to the New York Rangers on Sunday, marking the fourth time this season they were shut out.
Arizona is mired in a lengthy slump of its own, having lost a season-high five straight contests and eight of its last nine. The Coyotes scored three goals in Saturday's shootout loss to Minnesota, matching their total from their previous three games. Arizona looks to salvage the finale of its five-game homestand and put an end to its franchise-worst nine-game slide (0-5-4) at Gila River Arena.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, RSN West (Edmonton), FSN Arizona
ABOUT THE OILERS (7-19-5): MacTavish will begin grooming Todd Nelson, who was summoned from Oklahoma City of the American Hockey League to succeed Eakins. Nelson has spent the last five seasons as coach of the Barons, guiding them to a 176-111-12-34 record - including a 26-5-2-2 mark this season. The Oilers have gone 1-11-4 since posting back-to-back road wins over Buffalo and the Rangers on Nov. 7 and 9, respectively.
ABOUT THE COYOTES (10-16-4): The fact Arizona ranks 28th in the league in penalty-killing should come as no surprise considering its recent lack of success. The Coyotes have allowed at least one power-play goal in each of their last nine contests. Lauri Korpikoski snapped his nine-game goal-scoring drought Saturday but also suffered a lower-body injury and is questionable for Tuesday's game.
OVERTIME
1. Edmonton is 1-15-4 against the Western Conference, including a 1-11-1 mark against Pacific Division rivals.
2. Arizona won each of its first three meetings with Edmonton this season and is riding a franchise-record 16-game point streak versus the Oilers.
3. Coyotes LW Mikkel Boedker has recorded five of his nine goals - including both of his game-winners - and seven of his 20 points this season against Edmonton.