{coyotes} Coyotes, Senators deal with injuries, try to end skids

Saturday, 24 October 2015

{coyotes} Coyotes, Senators deal with injuries, try to end skids

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COYOTES (3-3-1) at SENATORS (3-2-2)

TV: CITY

OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Senators and the Arizona Coyotes are each dealing with injuries as they try to end their respective losing streaks Saturday at Canadian Tire Centre.

Center Antoine Vermette (lower body) will be a game-time decision for the Coyotes, who have lost four in a row and given up 16 goals in the process after winning their first three games.

The Senators, who have lost three in a row, called up forward Max McCormick from Binghamton of the American Hockey League. He'll make his NHL debut with wing Mike Hoffman (lower body) out.

Senators coach Dave Cameron is being forced to shuffle the top line without Hoffman. Curtis Lazar takes his place alongside Kyle Turris and Mark Stone.

"It's a big opportunity for myself. There's a big void to fill for [Hoffman]. I'm up for that challenge," said Lazar, who will move from right wing to the left side.

McCormick will play on a line with Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Alex Chiasson.

"Any kid, you put him where he has the best chance. Max is a pest, so we'll put him on a pesty line. That's it in a nutshell," Cameron said.

The Senators will have top-pairing defenseman Marc Methot back in the lineup after he missed two games with a concussion.

Craig Anderson, given a night off Thursday when Andrew Hammond started his first game of the season, will be back in goal.

Ottawa blew a 4-2 lead in the third period Thursday against the New Jersey Devils and lost for the second straight game in a shootout. Cameron said the Senators haven't been making their opponents earn their chances.

"It's like baseball," he said. "You can't give them walks. You can't let them on by errors. That's the stuff that comes back to haunt you."

Goaltender Anders Lindback will get his first start of the season for Arizona.

Coyotes coach Dave Tippett is expected to keep a line with rookies Max Domi and Anthony Duclair together with center Martin Hanzal.

Duclair has a team-leading five goals. Domi has three goals and five assists. Each is 20 years old.

They played together for the first time in a 4-1 loss against the New York Rangers on Thursday.

"They've got some chemistry together and Hanzal has been really good, kind of a stabilizing factor for them," Tippett said. "They're young kids, they're still getting their feet wet, but give them credit, they've played well so far."

"It's been pretty good," Duclair said. "We've had some success in the past together (playing for Canada at the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship). We're just looking forward to translating that to the NHL. It's not easy. We've got things to learn, but what better way to start off than with a great centerman like Marty Hanzal?"

Here are the projected lineups:

COYOTES

Tobias Rieder – Antoine Vermette – Mikkel Boedker

Max Domi – Martin Hanzal – Anthony Duclair

Kyle Chipchura – Brad Richardson – Shane Doan

Jordan Martinook – Boyd Gordon – Steve Downie

Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Michael Stone

Klas Dahlbeck – Zbynek Michalek

Nicklas Grossmann – Connor Murphy

Anders Lindback

Mike Smith

Injured: Joe Vitale

Scratched: John Scott, Stefan Elliott

SENATORS

Curtis Lazar – Kyle Turris – Mark Stone

Milan Michalek – Mika Zibanejad – Bobby Ryan

Max McCormick – Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Alex Chiasson

Shane Prince – Zack Smith – Chris Neil

Marc Methot - Erik Karlsson

Patrick Wiercioch - Cody Ceci

Jared Cowen – Mark Borowiecki

Craig Anderson

Andrew Hammond

Injured: Chris Phillips (back), Clarke MacArthur (concussion), Mike Hoffman (lower body)

Scratched: Chris Wideman

Status report: MacArthur will miss his fourth game and is out indefinitely. … Tippett dressed seven defensemen against the Rangers, so it's possible Elliott will play. Martinook missed the morning skate, but is expected to be available. Chipchura was a scratch against the Rangers.

Who's hot: Karlsson has eight assists in seven games. … Domi and Hanzal each have two assists in their past two games.

Team Stats