{coyotes} COYOTES (16-25-6) at MAPLE LEAFS (22-23-4)

Wednesday 28 January 2015

{coyotes} COYOTES (16-25-6) at MAPLE LEAFS (22-23-4)

Thursday, January 29, 2015

7:30 PM ET

COYOTES (16-25-6) at MAPLE LEAFS (22-23-4)

TV: FS-A, TSN4

Season series: The Arizona Coyotes are going for a two-game sweep of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Antoine Vermette's unassisted goal in the second period stood up as the game-winner when Toronto came to Gila River Arena on Nov. 4. Mike Smith made 28 saves for the victory.

Coyotes team scope: Arizona will be trying to end a seven-game losing streak. The Coyotes opened the post-All Star portion of their schedule by grabbing a quick 2-0 lead against the Philadelphia Flyers, only to lose 4-3 in a shootout. Centers Joe Vitale and Martin Hanzal didn't practice Wednesday. Vitale is day to day because of an upper-body injury; Hanzal took a maintenance day and is expected to play. The Coyotes recalled forward Brendan Shinnimin from Portland of the American Hockey League in case Vitale isn't able to play.

Maple Leafs team scope: Toronto's slump continued Wednesday, when the Maple Leafs couldn't hold a 1-0 lead late in regulation and lost 2-1 to the New Jersey Devils in a shootout. The Maple Leafs are 0-6-1 in their past seven games and 3-14-1 in their past 18, including a 2-11-1 mark on the road. James van Riemsdyk gave Toronto the lead when he scored on a breakaway with 8:11 remaining in regulation, but Jonathan Bernier allowed Adam Larsson's tying goal with 2:50 to play and was beaten twice on three shootout attempts. "It would have been nice to win 1-0 but we got a point and we've got to feel good about ourselves," Bernier said. "We played a really good defensive team. We didn't panic. We didn't rush the play. We stuck to our game plan and we got a point."

Team Stats