Avalanche at Coyotes
The Arizona Coyotes salvaged the finale of their six-game road trip and hope to build off the victory when they begin a three-game homestand Saturday against the Colorado Avalanche. Arizona opened the season with an overtime win over Philadelphia at home but dropped the first five contests of its trek before again topping the Flyers 5-4 on Thursday.
Former Flyer Ryan White scored what proved to be the game-winning goal while Brad Richardson recorded a tally and an assist to take the team lead in points (six) as the Coyotes netted more than four goals for the first time this campaign. Colorado's lengthy rest proved to be a detriment as the club suffered a 1-0 home loss to Winnipeg on Friday after having five days off following a four-game road trip. The Avalanche also were blanked once while going 2-2-0 on the trek and have scored a total of two goals in their three losses while netting 14 in their three victories this season. Joe Colborne has gone five games without a tally after registering a hat trick in the season opener but remains tied with Matt Duchene for the team lead with three goals.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, Altitude2 (Colorado), FSN Arizona
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (3-3-0): Mikko Rantanen made his season debut Friday and saw 18 minutes, 16 seconds of ice time, recording two shots and blocking two while winning the lone faceoff he took. The 19-year-old Finn, who was selected with the 10th overall pick in the 2015 draft, suffered an ankle injury in September and missed all of training camp and the preseason before being assigned to the minors essentially for conditioning. Veteran center John Mitchell also appeared in his first game of the campaign thanks to a hip injury, registering one shot and blocking another while going 4-1 on draws.
ABOUT THE COYOTES (2-5-0): Arizona could be without Michael Stone on Saturday as the defenseman exited the victory at Philadelphia in the third period with an upper-body injury. The 26-year-old Stone, who missed the team's first three games of the season with a knee injury, has appeared in four contests and recorded all three of his assists in the last two. Oliver Ekman-Larsson ranks fourth among defensemen in franchise history with 81 goals after scoring his team-leading fifth of the campaign Thursday.
OVERTIME
1. Coyotes LW Max Domi leads the team with five assists — four in his last three games — but has yet to score a goal after netting 18 as a rookie last season.
2. Colorado D Fedor Tyutin has missed the last two games with a groin injury and is day-to-day.
3. Two of Richardson's three goals this season have been short-handers.