{coyotes} COYOTES (16-23-4) at WILD (19-19-5)

Friday 16 January 2015

{coyotes} COYOTES (16-23-4) at WILD (19-19-5)

Saturday, January 17, 2015

9:00 PM ET

COYOTES (16-23-4) at WILD (19-19-5)

TV: FS-A, FS-N, FS-WI

Season series: The Minnesota Wild have defeated the Arizona Coyotes in each game this season, with forward Jason Pominville scoring three points for the Wild and Antoine Vermette and Oliver Ekman-Larsson each having a goal and an assist for the Coyotes. Arizona is 6-3-0 in its past nine games at Xcel Enegry Center.

Coyotes team scope: Arizona begins a stretch of eight straight road games against Minnesota after wrapping up a six-game homestand with a 4-1 loss to the Calgary Flames on Thursday. The Coyotes went 2-4-0, but have lost three games in a row. Captain Shane Doan sustained a lower-body injury against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday and did not play against the Flames. His status for Saturday is questionable. Goaltender Mike Smith likely will start. Smith has a 2.12 goals-against average and .914 save percentage in 12 career games against the Wild. He stopped 27 of 29 shots in the loss against Minnesota earlier this season.

Wild team scope: Minnesota ended a six-game losing streak Thursday with a 7-0 win against the Buffalo Sabres. The seven-goal margin of victory was the largest in franchise history. Goaltender Devan Dubnyk made 18 saves after being acquired Wednesday from the Coyotes in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft. Dubnyk is expected to get the start against his former team. Pominville had three assists against Buffalo and has 22 assists since Nov. 16. The Wild did not practice Friday because they attended the funeral service of former NHL player J.P. Parise, father of current Wild forward Zach Parise, who passed away last week due to lung cancer.

Team Stats