Coyotes at Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks are beginning to find their form after a puzzling start to the season, with Corey Perry and captain Ryan Getzlaf leading the way. The two talented forwards, who have combined for eight points over the last two contests, look to help the Ducks extend their winning streak to five games when they host the Arizona Coyotes on Monday.
Perry has recorded his first two goals of the campaign along with three assists in his last three games and Getzlaf has notched four assists in two contests since returning from an appendectomy. The Ducks have allowed six goals during their streak, with Anton Khudobin posting a shutout at San Jose on Saturday. The Coyotes, who beat Anaheim 4-0 on Oct. 14, will try to break through against the Ducks’ revived defense after falling 4-1 to the New York Rangers on Saturday despite registering a season-high 40 shots. “The margin for error is slim,” Arizona coach Dave Tippett told reporters. “We have to hang around games and find ways to win.”
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FSN Arizona, FSN West (Anaheim)
ABOUT THE COYOTES (6-6-1): Mike Smith rebounded from a rough stretch to stop 26-of-28 shots and beat Colorado on Thursday but was pulled two days later, and Anders Lindback is slated to start versus Anaheim. Martin Hanzal, whose line with Tobias Rieder and Anthony Duclair registered 16 shots Saturday, leads the team with 12 points (all assists). Antoine Vermette (lower body) is doubtful and defenseman Nicklas Grossmann (lower body) is questionable for Monday while blue-liner Stefan Elliott (upper body) is close to a return.
ABOUT THE DUCKS (5-7-2): Perry (eight), who is two shy of 300 career goals, and Getzlaf (five) are the only players to accumulate more than four points for the Ducks, with Ryan Kesler and Jakob Silfverberg still looking for their first goal. Coach Bruce Boudreau told reporters he split up the top defensive pair of Hampus Lindholm and Kevin Bieksa recently because they were “struggling together,” putting Josh Manson with Lindholm and Bieksa with Cam Fowler. Rickard Rakell missed the last two games with an upper-body injury and is day-to-day.
OVERTIME
1. Duclair has gone seven games without a point after scoring five goals in the first six contests of the season.
2. The Ducks lead the league in penalty-killing at 91.7 percent while the Coyotes are last on the power play (11.3).
3. The teams have split their last six meetings, with Arizona earning two of its victories in shootouts.