{coyotes} SHARKS (22-16-5) at COYOTES (16-21-4)

Monday 12 January 2015

{coyotes} SHARKS (22-16-5) at COYOTES (16-21-4)

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

9:00 PM ET

SHARKS (22-16-5) at COYOTES (16-21-4)

TV: CSN-CA, FS-A PLUS

Season series: The Arizona Coyotes defeated the San Jose Sharks 4-3 in a shootout on Nov. 22 at SAP Center. Antoine Vermette had a goal and the lone score in the shootout. Devan Dubnyk made 40 saves for the Coyotes.

Sharks team scope: The Sharks completed a tough stretch of the schedule where they played nine games against current playoff teams, and the 10th was against the Minnesota Wild, a team that has spent most of the season in a playoff position before a recent slump. San Jose went 4-5-1 and was without Joe Thornton for four of those games. The Sharks have lost three of the past five, and two of them were by 7-2 scores to the St. Louis Blues. Rookie forward Melker Karlsson has been a bright spot, scoring a goal in five straight games. He has six goals and 10 points in his first 14 NHL games.

Coyotes team scope: The good news is Arizona has won five of eight games. The bad news is they are still minus-four in goal differential in that span, and minus-10 in the past nine games because each of the three losses have been blowouts. Though Dubnyk has resurrected his career with nice numbers as the backup goaltender, starter Mike Smith has been in a funk. He's 2-7 in his past nine appearances and has a save percentage of better than .890 in only one of those games. Center Martin Hanzal practiced Monday but is expected to miss his fourth straight game with an upper-body injury. Defenseman Zbynek Michalek (upper body) has missed the past two games but could play against the Sharks.

Team Stats