Ducks at Coyotes
The Anaheim Ducks are running away in the Pacific Division and chasing Nashville for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, but they were not content to stand pat at the trade deadline. The Ducks, who have won five of six entering Tuesday's matchup at the flat-lining Arizona Coyotes, went out and acquired three defensemen - including James Wisniewski from Columbus. "Bottom line, the Anaheim Ducks are better than they were five, six days ago," general manager Bob Murray said.
The Ducks began the trading binge on Saturday by bringing in forward Tomas Fleischmann from Florida, but they were not the only team shuffling bodies prior to Monday's deadline. Arizona, which is trying to avoid losing a franchise record-tying 10th consecutive game, continued its fire sale by sending defenseman Zbynek Michalek to St. Louis on Monday. That followed the departures of the team's top two scorers, defenseman Keith Yandle and Antoine Vermette.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, Prime Ticket (Anaheim), FSN Arizona
ABOUT THE DUCKS (40-17-7): Wisniewski, who scored a career-high eight goals this season and had a previous stint with Anaheim, joins Pittsburgh's Simon Depres and Toronto's Korbinian Holzer on the Ducks' retooled blue line. Wisniewski could be sidelined for one to two weeks after suffering a bone bruise in his left foot after getting hit by a shot Sunday, is coming off a career-high 51-point campaign last season. "Our power play has struggled mightily for two years now," Murray said. "Wiz is not afraid to shoot the puck. That is a good thing."
ABOUT THE COYOTES (20-36-7): Arizona has scored only 13 goals during its nine-game skid and now coach Dave Tippett must try to pull together the new pieces, which includes naming two assistant captains in place of Yandle and Vermette. "You lose three great players," starting netminder Mike Smith said. "(Yandle) is the personality in the locker room. That’s tough to replace.” Smith, who has lost eight straight decisions - all in regulation - and is winless since Feb. 9, has allowed 13 goals in his last three appearances.
OVERTIME
1. The Coyotes have won two of three matchups versus Anaheim this season, both coming in shootouts.
2. The Ducks have scored once in their last 17 chances with the man advantage.
3. Arizona has allowed seven power-play goals in its last 23 short-handed situations.