Coyotes at Stars
The second-fewest points in the league certainly is nothing for a team to hang its collective hats on, but the Arizona Coyotes are trying to end the season with a positive vibe. The Coyotes attempt to match their longest winning streak of the season when they go for their third straight victory at the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night.
Arizona rebounded from a 1-6-1 slide with a pair of impressive wins, knocking off NHL-leading Washington before winning at Los Angeles on Sunday and ending the Kings' postseason hopes. "We want to win," Coyotes forward Alexander Burmistrov said. "When we have a chance to eliminate a team out of the playoffs, we have to take our chance." While Arizona seeks its third three-game winning streak, the Stars have put together three straight wins only once -- an alarming stat for a team that posted a Western Conference-best 109 points last season. Dallas has won three straight in the series, including both meetings this season, and has beaten the Coyotes eight consecutive times at home dating to March 2012.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest-Plus (Dallas), FSN Arizona-Plus
ABOUT THE COYOTES (29-41-9): Oliver Ekman-Larsson halted a five-game point drought by assisting on both goals in Sunday's 2-1 win at Los Angeles, which turned out to be the star defenseman's final contest of the season. Ekman-Larsson was granted a leave of absence by the team Monday and will return to Sweden to be with his family following the passing of his mother due to cancer. "I'm sorry that I'll miss our last three games but family comes first," said Ekman-Larsson, who is second on the team with 39 points.
ABOUT THE STARS (32-36-11): A disastrous season can be attributed to myriad factors: a slew of injuries, shoddy defense and goaltending and an inability to win at home. The Stars, who wind up the season with a three-game homestand, finished a brutal 12-24-5 away from American Airlines Center -- the team's worst road record since moving to Dallas prior to the 1993-94 season. Rookie Esa Lindell set up all three goals in Sunday's loss at Tampa Bay and had two assists in a 5-2 win over Arizona on Feb. 16.
OVERTIME
1. The Coyotes are 4-for-6 on the power play over the past three games after going nine games without tallying on the man advantage.
2. Dallas, which has played 12 of its last 15 on the road, is averaging 3.67 goals in its last 13 home contests.
3. Coyotes D Alex Goligoski is riding a four-game point streak.