{coyotes} LIGHTNING (36-18-6) at COYOTES (20-31-7)

Friday, 20 February 2015

{coyotes} LIGHTNING (36-18-6) at COYOTES (20-31-7)

Fifty Shades Trilogy / NASCAR Mobile - NASCAR Digital Media

Saturday, February 21, 2015

8:00 PM ET

LIGHTNING (36-18-6) at COYOTES (20-31-7)

TV: FS-A PLUS, SUN

Season series: Forward Nikita Kucherov had a hat trick and linemate Tyler Johnson had four assists for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 7-3 win against the Arizona Coyotes on Oct. 28. Arizona goalie Mike Smith was pulled in the third period after allowing six goals on 33 shots.

Lightning team scope: Tampa Bay is looking for its third win on a five-game Western Conference road trip; the Lightning have sandwiched wins against the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks around a loss to the Los Angeles Kings. Last season, the Lightning went 0-3-1 on a similar trip and were outscored 17-6. "I think as an organization, I think we've grown in the last year," coach Jon Cooper told the Lightning website. "It's been good to see." Cooper reportedly was animated during practice working on a power play that has one goal in its past seven games, two in 10, and is 3-for-38 in 13 games since Jan. 20. Goalies Ben Bishop and Andrei Vasilevskiy will split the back-to-back that ends Sunday against the Colorado Avalanche, but Cooper did not reveal the order. Bishop made 21 saves in a 4-1 win against the Ducks on Wednesday. Tampa Bay leads the NHL with 95 goals on the road.

Coyotes team scope: Arizona's nine home wins are the fewest in the NHL; the Coyotes have not won at Gila River Arena since Jan. 8, losing seven in a row and outscored 26-9. They have not played since Monday, when they lost 5-2 at Colorado. "It's been a good week," coach Dave Tippett told the Arizona Republic on Friday. "We've had some good talks with some young players, making sure everybody's moving in the right direction. So it's [been] a productive week." Defenseman Zbynek Michalek (upper body) will not play; forward Alex Bolduc (mid body) practiced. The Coyotes start a four-game East Coast road trip Monday; they have 11 road wins.

Team Stats