GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Any win in the National Hockey League is great. A win after 10 straight regulation losses has the added bonus of lifting a burden off the players' shoulders.
The smiles on the faces of Arizona Coyotes players after their 3-2 shootout win against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday were ones of relief. After not winning anywhere for a month and at Gila River Arena for almost two months, the sound of music, loud voices and laughing in the dressing room was long overdue.
"It was a great feeling. A long time coming," said Coyotes forward Sam Gagner, who had the only goal in the shootout to get the Coyotes the win. "With all that happened here, with all the players coming and going at the [NHL Trade Deadline], it's a huge weight off your shoulders for sure."
The Coyotes have a tough task Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens, one of the best teams in the NHL. But Arizona beat the Coyotes in Montreal 3-2 on Feb. 1. Goalie Louie Domingue gave up two early goals but the Coyotes rallied for three goals in the third to give Domingue his first NHL win in the city he grew up.
Montreal is 0-2-1 on the first three games of their Western Conference trip.
Domingue won't have a chance to go for the sweep. Mike Smith will get the start this time, his eighth straight.
Neither team skated with the early 5 p.m. local-time start. But the Coyotes are on the ice as much as possible these days.
Arizona is home for a long stretch of games, giving coach Dave Tippett much-needed practice time with four new players in the lineup. All of them made contributions in the win against the Canucks.
Defenseman Klas Dahlbeck and forward Tye McGinn assisted on B.J. Crombeen's goal, and defenseman John Moore and forward Craig Cunningham played 16 and 12 minutes, respectively.
"All the new guys played well [Thursday] and they are more comfortable as we have a few practices and they get to see our structure and how we play," Tippett said. "Having a good stretch here at home with practice time helps.
"They are all players who weren't getting a great opportunity where they were, and in our situation they'll have lots of opportunity. We have a chance to evaluate them and see if we want them to be part of the organization moving forward. You don't trade for a player and bring him in hoping he doesn't do well. Every player is different but a change of scenery can mean a lot."
For McGinn, leaving the San Jose Sharks, where he played sparingly, for a chance to play regular minutes gave him a big smile.
"I came in cold. I didn't know anybody in the room," McGinn said. "But I was really looking forward to the chance to come here. With five or six weeks left in the season there is an opportunity for me to play my game and have a chance to show that I can make a contribution."
Here are the projected lineups:
CANADIENS
Max Pacioretty - David Desharnais - Brendan Gallagher
Alex Galchenyuk - Tomas Plekanec - Dale Weise
Lars Eller - Jacob De La Rose - Devante Smith-Pelly
Brandon Prust - Brian Flynn - Torrey Mitchell
Nathan Beaulieu - Sergei Gonchar
Scratched: Mike Weaver, Manny Malhotra, Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau
Injured: Alexei Emelin (shoulder)
COYOTES
Martin Erat - Kyle Chipchura - Shane Doan
Tobias Rieder - Mark Arcobello - Sam Gagner
Lauri Korpikoski - Craig Cunningham - David Moss
Tye McGinn - Joe Vitale - B.J. Crombeen
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Michael Stone
Klas Dahlbeck - Andrew Campbell
Scratched: Brandon Gormley
Injured: Mikkel Boedker (upper body), Martin Hanzal (upper body)
Status report: Price will be back in goal for the Canadiens after Tokarski started Thursday in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings. … The Coyotes will stick with the same lineup for the third straight game. … Gormley played at forward in Friday's practice because Korpikoski was nursing a minor injury. He will play Saturday.
Who's hot: Doan will play in his 1,378th NHL game, passing Joe Sakic, Vincent Damphousse and Dean Prentice for 39th place on the NHL all-time games played list. … Rieder has a goal in each of the past two games.
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