{coyotes} COYOTES (20-34-7) at RANGERS (37-16-6)

Wednesday, 25 February 2015

{coyotes} COYOTES (20-34-7) at RANGERS (37-16-6)

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ESPN Fantasy Baseball / Yahoo Fantasy Baseball

Thursday, February 26, 2015

7:00 PM ET

COYOTES (20-34-7) at RANGERS (37-16-6)

TV: FS-A, MSG+

Season series: The New York Rangers used a four-goal third period to defeat the Arizona Coyotes 5-1 on Feb. 14 in Glendale, Ariz. Rick Nash scored his 35th goal and Cam Talbot (34 saves) stopped a penalty shot to help coach Alain Vigneault to his 500th NHL win.

Coyotes team scope: Arizona continues its four-game road trip losers of seven straight games and nine of its past 10. The Coyotes did not practice Wednesday after playing the second half of a back-to-back Tuesday, a 5-1 loss to the New York Islanders, and their third game in four nights. The Coyotes have not scored more than two goals in any their past 10 games. Against the Islanders, the Coyotes allowed five goals for the 17th time this season, and lost their 19th game by at least three goals. "It's just where we are," coach Dave Tippett told the Arizona Republic. "We've got a hard time scoring and a hard time defending." A bright spot for Arizona has been defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, whose career-high 17 goals and nine power-play goals lead NHL defensemen. Forward Mark Arcobello has four goals in his past six games. Defensemen Zbynek Michalek (upper-body injury) is not on the road trip and remains day-to-day. The Coyotes on Wednesday recalled Henrik Samuelsson and assigned forward Jordan Martinook to the Portland of the American Hockey League.

Rangers team scope: Following a day off, New York ends a three-game homestand with Nash listed as day-to-day because of neck spasms that caused him to miss his first game of the season Tuesday. "Just a bad sleep, he got a crick," Vigneault told NorthJersey.com. Kevin Hayes replaced Nash at first-line left wing and scored the goal, his fifth in eight games, in a 1-0 win against the Calgary Flames. New York has won three straight, is 9-1-2 in February, and 8-1-2 since goalie Henrik Lundqvist sustained a vascular injury. The Rangers (80 points) are in second place, two points behind the Islanders in the Metropolitan Division. Talbot had his fourth shutout to give Rangers goalies a combined League-leading nine. Vigneault's 82 wins as Rangers coach is tied for 10th place with Fred Shero on their all-time list. Center Oscar Lindberg was reassigned to Hartford of the American Hockey League after making his NHL debut Tuesday.

Team Stats