GLENDALE, Ariz. – The Arizona Coyotes will be without forward Lauri Korpikoski when they face the Nashville Predators on Monday.
Korpikoski, in the midst of a disappointing season with six goals and a minus-24 rating, had been nursing an upper-body injury for several games but it worsened during a 2-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday. The Coyotes had 12 forwards on their roster so they used an emergency call-up to summon Brendan Shinnimin from the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League.
"There are a number of guys playing well down there, but we wanted to see Shinnimin at center," Arizona coach Dave Tippett said.
Goalie Louis Domingue will make his second-career start for the Coyotes. Domingue won his NHL debut on Feb. 1 in his hometown, defeating the Canadiens 3-2 in Montreal. Mike Smith has played eight straight games and was strong with 31 saves Saturday but will get a break.
"Louie continues to grow, and his work habits and NHL mindset are good. He wants to make the most of the opportunity," Tippett said.
Predators forward Mike Ribeiro returns to Arizona for a second time since his contract was bought out by the Coyotes last summer. Ribeiro has had a strong bounce-back season for Nashville. He earned his 41st assist of the season Saturday against the Winnipeg Jets, putting him behind Cliff Ronning (43, 2000-01) and Jason Arnott (44, 2007-08) for the most assists by a Predators center in history. He also has a chance, with 15 games left, to pass Paul Kariya (54 in 2005-06) for the most assists in franchise history.
Ribeiro leads the Predators with 54 points.
The Predators have lost six straight games, cutting their lead over the St. Louis Blues to two points in the Central Division and putting them two points behind the Anaheim Ducks in the race for the Presidents' Trophy.
This is the start of a four-game road trip for Nashville, which hasn't won since a 5-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche on Feb. 24.
Here are the projected lineups:
PREDATORS
Filip Forsberg - Mike Ribeiro - Craig Smith
Colin Wilson - Mike Fisher - James Neal
Matt Cullen - Calle Jarnkrok - Mike Santorelli
Gabriel Bourque - Paul Gaustad - Taylor Beck
Mattias Ekholm - Anton Volchenkov
Scratched: Victor Bartley, Ryan Ellis, Viktor Stalberg
Injured: Eric Nystrom (lower body)
COYOTES
Martin Erat – Kyle Chipchura – Shane Doan
Tobias Rieder – Brendan Shinnimin – Sam Gagner
Tye McGinn – Mark Arcobello – David Moss
Craig Cunningham – Joe Vitale – B.J. Crombeen
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Michael Stone
Klas Dahlbeck – Andrew Campbell
Scratched: Connor Murphy
Injured: Mikkel Boedker (upper body), Martin Hanzal (upper body), Lauri Korpikoski (upper body).
Status report: Shinnimin will play between Rieder and Gagner, two of Arizona's more productive forwards of late. Arcobello will center a line between McGinn and Moss. … Gormley will play for the first time since Feb. 28 in place of Murphy, who has been ill the past few days. … Stalberg was recalled from Milwaukee of the AHL and Volchenkov was activated from injured reserve.
Who's hot: Fisher has seven points (three goals) in the past 10 games for Nashville. … Cullen has 10 points (two goals) over the same span. … Rinne has not allowed a goal in 12 overtime periods this season (27 saves). His 35 wins are second in the League to Montreal's Carey Price.
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