Coyotes at Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks began their season high-tying four-game winning streak by defeating three of the heavyweights in the Pacific Division. After vanquishing Los Angeles, Anaheim and Edmonton to end December on a high, the Canucks look to continue their run of good fortune on Wednesday when they host the cellar-dwelling Arizona Coyotes in the second contest of a three-game homestand.
Sven Baertschi scored twice in Monday's 3-2 triumph over Colorado to extend his point streak to three games (three goals, two assists) and linemate Bo Horvat also tallied to increase his point streak to four contests. Both members of the duo clubbed the Coyotes by each scoring a goal and assisting on two others in a 4-1 triumph on Nov. 23. Offense has been an issue, though, the season for Arizona, which has mustered just 13 goals en route to dropping seven in a row to plummet 12 points behind sixth-place Vancouver. "It's just getting to the point where it's embarrassing," veteran forward Martin Hanzal said after the Coyotes' 4-2 loss to Calgary on Saturday. "It's on us. It's on the players. We've got to stick together and start playing desperate, because it's just not desperate enough."
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FSN Arizona, SNP (Vancouver)
ABOUT THE COYOTES (11-21-5): Defenseman Anthony DeAngelo has fared well in both meetings with Vancouver this season, but will be unable to help his teammates on Wednesday as he begins serving a three-game suspension for physical abuse of officials. "Hopefully it's a good lesson for a young player," coach Dave Tippett told AZCentral.com of the 21-year-old DeAngelo, who is not allowed to publicly address the media until the ban is over, per team policy. "I know the NHL, they want to make sure the officials are out of bounds on all situations. That was a young player that was emotional at the time. There wasn't a lot of intent, more just frustration." DeAngelo scored a power-play goal in Arizona's 3-2 overtime loss to the Canucks on Nov. 17 and added an assist in the latter meeting.
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (18-18-3): Ryan Miller has stopped 84 of 89 shots to win his last three starts and become the third United States-born goaltender to record 350 NHL victories. The 35-year-old Miller could pad those statistics against a foe that he's tormented throughout his career, as his 35-save performance in the most recent encounter versus Arizona improved his lifetime mark to 10-1-0 with one shutout and a rail-thin 1.53 goals-against average. Captain Henrik Sedin notched two assists against the Avalanche to increase his point total to 14 (four goals, 10 assists) in his last 17 games and match Horvat (26) for the team lead.
OVERTIME
1. Arizona C Alexander Burmistrov, who was claimed off waivers by the team on Monday, will meet up with the club in Vancouver for Wednesday's game, Tippett told AZCentral.com.
2. Canucks LW Daniel Sedin picked up his 600th assist on Monday and has 47 points (14 goals, 33 assists) in 61 career encounters versus the Coyotes.
3. Hanzal has two goals and two assists in his last five games after being held off the scoresheet in 13 of his previous 15.