{coyotes} Coyotes could get captain Doan back vs. Hurricanes

Saturday 12 December 2015

{coyotes} Coyotes could get captain Doan back vs. Hurricanes

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HURRICANES (11-14-4) at COYOTES (14-14-1)

TV: FS-CR, FS-A

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Arizona Coyotes captain Shane Doan could return to the lineup Saturday against the Carolina Hurricanes at Gila River Arena.

A further evaluation on Doan, who has missed the past 10 games with a lower-body injury, was to be made Saturday afternoon.

Coyotes goaltender Anders Lindback, who is coming off one of his best games of the season, has an opportunity at atonement against the Hurricanes.

Lindback stopped 13 of 18 shots in a 5-4 loss at Carolina on Dec. 6, a game the Coyotes led three times but couldn't close out. The Hurricanes scored twice in the final 4:22, including a power-play goal by defenseman Justin Faulk with 17 seconds left. It was the most disappointing stop of an 0-5-0 road trip for Arizona.

But the Coyotes are now home, where they have won five straight games, and Lindback is in a better frame of mind.

He had 27 saves and was the No. 1 star in a 2-1 win Saturday against the Minnesota Wild. Starter Mike Smith remains out with a lower-body injury, so Lindback will start the rematch with Carolina.

"The last game was a real disappointment, so it was nice to get back in this quick," Lindback said after beating the Wild. "You are always on your heels when you've been losing this much, but we did a great job and battled all the way. I feel good and it would be nice to prove myself against Carolina after that last game."

Neither team held a morning skate after playing Friday. The Hurricanes won for the third time in the past four games, a 5-1 win against the Anaheim Ducks fueled by a hat trick from forward Jeff Skinner. Skinner has six of his 11 goals this season in the past four games.

The Coyotes have a hot scorer as well, at least on home ice. Forward Mikkel Boedker scored twice in the win over the Wild, including the game-winner 34 seconds into overtime. Boedker has five of his 11 goals in the past two home games, with a hat trick of his own in a win against the Ottawa Senators on Nov. 28 before the Coyotes headed out on their tough road trip.

Arizona has won five straight at Gila River Arena, where it is 7-4-0 and has played an NHL-low 11 games. Arizona won 11 home games all of last season.

Coyotes coach Dave Tippett passed Pat Burns for 20th place on the all-time NHL coaching wins list with his 502nd against the Wild on Friday.

Here are the projected lineups:

HURRICANES

Kris Versteeg - Eric Staal - Elias Lindholm

Joakim Nordstrom - Jordan Staal - Andrej Nestrasil

Jeff Skinner - Victor Rask - Phillip Di Giuseppe

Brad Malone - Jay McClement - Riley Nash

Ron Hainsey - Justin Faulk

John-Michael Liles - Brett Pesce

Noah Hanifin - Jaccob Slavin

Cam Ward

Eddie Lack

Injured: James Wisniewski (knee), Nathan Gerbe (lower body)

Scratched: Chris Terry, Michal Jordan

COYOTES

Tobias Rieder - Antoine Vermette - Mikkel Boedker

Max Domi – Viktor Tikhonov - Anthony Duclair

Jordan Martinook - Brad Richardson – Steve Downie

Kyle Chipchura - Boyd Gordon – Craig Cunningham

Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Michael Stone

Klas Dahlbeck - Zbynek Michalek

Nicklas Grossmann - Connor Murphy

Anders Lindback

Louis Domingue

Injured: Martin Hanzal (lower body), Joe Vitale (fractured orbital bone), Shane Doan (lower body), Mike Smith (lower body)

Scratched: John Scott, Stefan Elliott

Status report: Smith and Hanzal remain out, although Hanzal is expected back soon.

Who's hot: Faulk leads the NHL with 11 power-play goals, which accounts for every goal he's scored this season. The last defenseman to score 12 power-play goals in a full season was Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators in 2013-14. … Boedker gets his goals in bunches. He has seven of his 11 goals in three games, and a total of four in the other 26 games.

Team Stats