BLUE JACKETS (13-5-4) at COYOTES (8-11-3)
TV: 8 p.m. ET; FS-A PLUS, FS-O, NHL.TV
Blue Jackets team scope
The Columbus Blue Jackets will have forward Matt Calvert back in the lineup after he missed the past five games with an upper-body injury. Calvert was activated off injured reserve on Friday. Defenseman Dalton Prout has been cleared to play after recovering from back spasms but will be a healthy scratch, according to the Columbus Dispatch. The Blue Jackets have a four-game points streak, are 7-1-2 in the past 10 games and 11-2-3 in the past 16 games beginning a home-and-home series with the Arizona Coyotes that concludes Monday in Columbus. Backup goaltender Curtis McElhinney could start; No. 1 Sergei Bobrovsky skated with two scratched players Saturday morning. Bobrovsky is tied for the NHL lead with 13 wins and has allowed two goals or fewer in 11 of his past 14 games, going 11-2-1 over that span. He has started six straight games and 20 of Columbus' 22 games this season. The Blue Jackets have the top-ranked power play in the league at 25.9 percent (15-for-58) and have outscored their opponents 70-49 this season. After opening their road trip with a 3-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday, the Blue Jackets didn't practice on Friday or skate on Saturday.
Coyotes team scope
Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and center Martin Hanzal were absent from practice on Friday, but each is expected to play for the Coyotes on Saturday. Hanzal had his first two-goal game of the season in a 4-3 loss against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. Arizona has scored two goals or fewer in seven of the past 10 games and haven't score more than three in a game since Nov. 8. Forward Anthony Duclair has one goal and three assists in 22 games this season and forward Shane Doan has two goals over the same span. "We keep pounding away at repetition and making the right plays at the right time," Arizona coach Dave Tippett said. "If we're doing it 70 percent of the time, let's do it 90 percent of the time. It's about having the confidence that if you have the puck, you're going to do the right thing with it." The Coyotes have killed 30 of 32 penalties on home ice (93.8 percent) and 24 of the past 26 overall, but will get a test from the No. 1 power play in the league. "You definitely build momentum off a good penalty kill," forward Jordan Martinook said. "We've been really good as of late, everybody has been skating and reading off each other." The Coyotes did not skate Saturday.
Blue Jackets projected lineup
Brandon Saad - Alexander Wennberg - Nick Foligno
Boone Jenner - Brandon Dubinsky - Cam Atkinson
Matt Calvert - William Karlsson - Josh Anderson
Scott Hartnell - Lukas Sedlak - Sam Gagner
Ryan Murray - Markus Nutivaara
Curtis McElhinney
Sergei Bobrovsky
Scratched: Markus Hannikainen, Scott Harrington, Dalton Prout
Injured: David Clarkson (back)
Coyotes projected lineup
Max Domi - Martin Hanzal - Radim Vrbata
Tobias Rieder - Jordan Martinook - Shane Doan
Jamie McGinn - Christian Dvorak - Anthony Duclair
Lawson Crouse - Laurent Dauphin - Ryan White
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Connor Murphy
Alex Goligoski - Michael Stone
Louis Domingue
Scratched: Kevin Connuaton, Anthony DeAngelo, Tyler Gaudet
Injured: Brad Richardson (broken leg)
Status report
Calvert will return to his spot alongside Karlsson and Anderson. Hartnell will return to the fourth line with Sedlak and Gagner, pushing Hannikainen out of the lineup. The Coyotes recalled Gaudet from Tucson of the American Hockey League on Friday.
Who's hot
Hanzal has 20 points (six goals, 14 assists) in 22 career games against Columbus. … Atkinson has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in the past 10 games. … Vrbata has a goal and three assists in a four-game point streak.
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