COYOTES (9-13-5) at PENGUINS (18-7-3)
7 p.m. ET; TVA Sports, ROOT, FS-A, NHL.TV
Coyotes team scope
Forward Josh Jooris will make his debut with the Arizona Coyotes one day after being claimed off waivers from the New York Rangers. Jooris played 9:46 on Nov. 21 and 10:32 on Nov. 23 in his two games against the Pittsburgh Penguins this season. "I'm grateful for the opportunity," Jooris said. "I just want to help out any way I can. It starts tonight and I'm ready to go." Jooris scored his only goal this season in a 3-2 win against Arizona on Oct. 23. "He's excited to play," coach Dave Tippett said. "He brings some good energy. … We'll see what he can do." Defenseman Connor Murphy, day to day with an upper-body injury, is having tests and did not travel with the Coytoes. Defenseman Michael Stone will take his place alongside defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Despite defeating the Nashville Predators 4-1 when they last played Saturday, the Coyotes have struggled in recent weeks. Arizona is 1-3-2 in its past six games and 3-8-3 on the road this season. Goalie Mike Smith has a 2.56 goals-against average and .931 save percentage, but has won five of 12 decisions mostly because of the Coyotes' 27th ranked offense (2.22 goals per game). Before scoring four goals Saturday, Arizona had two or fewer goals in four consecutive games and six of its previous seven.
Penguins team scope
Goalie Matt Murray will likely start his third straight game for the Penguins after Marc-Andre Fleury started three straight from Dec. 1-5. Murray replaced Fleury with the Penguins trailing 4-2 7:08 into the second period of an 8-5 win against the Ottawa Senators on Dec. 5. Murray, who is 10-2-0 with a 2.01 GAA and .929 save percentage, earned the win by stopping 17 of 18 shots and has since allowed four goals on 52 shots. The rest of Pittsburgh's lineup will remain the same. The Penguins added defenseman Trevor Daley to their top power-play unit Saturday, when they scored three power-play goals in a 4-3 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning. "I think he's just good at moving with the puck," forward Sidney Crosby said. "He stays pretty active up top there. I think you put another defenseman out there, it allows the person who's kind of in his spot usually to just worry about making plays." The Penguins have rebounded from an inconsistent November (7-5-4) to win their first five December games while averaging 5.6 goals. Crosby (six goals and 12 points during a seven-game point streak), forward Evgeni Malkin (four goals and 13 points in his past eight games) and forward Phil Kessel (three goals and nine points in his past five games) have bolstered Pittsburgh's offense. The defense pair of Ian Cole (one goal, six points during a three-game point streak) and Justin Schultz (three goals, eight points in his past six games) has also provided unexpected production.
Coyotes projected lineup
Tobias Rieder -- Martin Hanzal -- Radim Vrbata
Brendan Perlini -- Christian Dvorak -- Shane Doan
Lawson Crouse -- Jordan Martinook -- Jamie McGinn
Laurent Dauphin -- Josh Jooris -- Ryan White
Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- Michael Stone
Alex Goligoski -- Anthony DeAngelo
Mike Smith
Scratched: Anthony Duclair, Peter Holland, Kevin Connauton
Injured: Brad Richardson (lower body), Max Domi (upper body), Connor Murphy (upper body)
Penguins projected lineup
Conor Sheary -- Sidney Crosby -- Patric Hornqvist
Carl Hagelin -- Evgeni Malkin -- Phil Kessel
Chris Kunitz -- Nick Bonino -- Bryan Rust
Scott Wilson -- Matt Cullen -- Tom Kuhnhackl
Olli Maatta -- Trevor Daley
Ian Cole -- Justin Schultz
Matt Murray
Marc-Andre Fleury
Scratched: Steve Oleksy, Eric Fehr
Injured: None
Status report
The Coyotes acquired Holland from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 2018 conditional draft choice Friday. He has yet to join Arizona because of visa issues. … The Penguins reassigned defenseman Derrick Pouliot and forward Jake Guentzel to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Wednesday.
Who's hot
Smith made 44 saves on 45 shots against Nashville on Saturday. He has allowed two or fewer goals in eight of his past 11 starts, including when he made 58 saves against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Dec. 3. … Crosby has scored at least one goal in each of his past three games. He leads the NHL with 20 goals in 22 games.
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