{coyotes} CANUCKS (4-2-4) at COYOTES (5-4-1)

Friday, 30 October 2015

{coyotes} CANUCKS (4-2-4) at COYOTES (5-4-1)

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Friday, October 30, 2015

10:00 PM ET

CANUCKS (4-2-4) at COYOTES (5-4-1)

TV: SNV, FS-A+

Season series: The Vancouver Canucks were 3-1-1 against the Arizona Coyotes last season. Canucks defenseman Yannick Weber had three goals and an assist, and left wing Daniel Sedin had two goals and four assists. Center Martin Hanzal led the Coyotes with three goals, all of which came in a 5-0 win at Vancouver on Nov. 14, and defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson had two goals and an assist.

Canucks team scope: Vancouver has lost five of its past six games (1-2-3) after blowing a two-goal lead in a 4-3 overtime loss at the Dallas Stars on Thursday. "I thought we played well enough to win," Sedin said. "We let one slip away, but we got to keep just playing the same way and I think we'll get our wins." Goalie Ryan Miller may finally get a night off after playing every minute for the Canucks so far this season. If Miller doesn't play, Richard Bachman, who has not played in an NHL game since April 7, when he was with the Edmonton Oilers, would get the start. After failing to score in the first six games of the season, forward Radim Vrbata, who played 428 games in six seasons with the Coyotes, has goals in three of the past four.

Coyotes team scope: Hanzal and center Antoine Vermette, each dealing with a lower-body injury, could be back in the lineup when Arizona begins its three-game homestand, which follows a 2-2-1 road trip. Vermette, who missed the final three games of the trip, practiced Thursday. His streak of 482 consecutive games played, dating to the 2008-09 season, was the second-longest in the NHL behind Anaheim Ducks forward Andrew Cogliano (632). Hanzal, who missed the final game of the trip, a 6-0 loss to the Boston Bruins on Tuesday, skated on his own. "Vermette and Hanzal, we'll re-evaluate in the morning," coach Dave Tippett told the Coyotes website. "It would be ideal to get them both back, but we'll see. We've got five more days after this [game] off, so we'll play that by ear. Neither one we're going to put into trouble if we think there's a possibility of injuring things further, but if they can play, they'll play, and that would certainly help." Defenseman Connor Murphy, who missed the Boston game because of a lower-body injury, will play, Tippett said. It will be center Brad Richardson's first game against the Canucks since signing with the Coyotes as a free agent July 1. He played the past two seasons for Vancouver.