{coyotes} Blue Jackets try to spoil Coyotes' win streak

Saturday, 14 November 2015

{coyotes} Blue Jackets try to spoil Coyotes' win streak

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COYOTES (9-6-1) at BLUE JACKETS (5-12-0)

TV: FS-A+, FS-O

COLUMBUS – The status of Columbus Blue Jackets center Brandon Dubinsky for the game Saturday against the Arizona Coyotes in Nationwide Arena is unknown.

But rookie forward Kerby Rychel was recalled from the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League and could play his second game of the season for the Blue Jackets.

Coming off a 2-1 win at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday, the Blue Jackets did not skate Saturday morning and coach John Tortorella will meet with the media prior to the game.

Dubinsky, who has four goals and 11 points, was scratched about an hour before the Pittsburgh game with an upper-body injury. He was fine at practice that morning.

"It was something that just flared up," Tortorella said after the game.

The lateness of the injury prevented Columbus (6-12-0) from calling up Rychel even though the Monsters were playing at home in Cleveland, about two hours from Pittsburgh.

Defenseman Dalton Prout was forced to play on the fourth line because Columbus did not have an extra forward. Prout was supposed to be on defense with Ryan Murray being a healthy scratch, but Murray also played against the Penguins.

Rychel was called up for the fourth time but his only game was at the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 17.

Arizona (9-6-1) is more settled with its lineup as the Coyotes try to win their fourth in a row for the first time since Oct. 26 to Nov. 5, 2013.

In the past three games, the Coyotes have allowed the first goal but rallied to win. It's a turnaround from when they went 0-4-1 the first five times they fell behind 1-0.

"It's been a bit of a wakeup call in some of those games," defenseman Connor Murphy said. "But to come back shows some resiliency in those games, the jump and the competitiveness in the guys."

Murphy, from the Columbus suburb of Dublin, is playing in Nationwide Arena for the second time with the Coyotes. He said it is less hectic in terms of media attention and getting tickets for those who want to see him play.

"It's always cool to be back to play in front of family and friends," he said. "It's different for the whole team too from last year when we came here. There's a lot of guys with more experience and feeling more confident."

Here are the probable lineups:

COYOTES

Tobias Rieder - Martin Hanzal - Anthony Duclair

Max Domi - Antoine Vermette - Mikkel Boedker

Jordan Martinook - Brad Richardson - Shane Doan

John Scott - Boyd Gordon – Kyle Chipchura

Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Michael Stone

Klas Dahlbeck - Zbynek Michalek

Stefan Elliott - Connor Murphy

Mike Smith

Anders Lindback

Injured: Joe Vitale (orbital bone), Nicklas Grossmann (lower body), Steve Downie (upper body)

Scratched: Philip Samuelsson

BLUE JACKETS

Boone Jenner - Ryan Johansen - Cam Atkinson

Brandon Saad - Nick Foligno - Scott Hartnell

Matt Calvert - William Karlsson - Rene Bourque

Jared Boll - Gregory Campbell - Kerby Rychel

Jack Johnson - David Savard

Fedor Tyutin - Dalton Prout

Kevin Connauton - Cody Goloubef

Sergei Bobrovsky

Curtis McElhinney

Injured: David Clarkson (back), Alexander Wennberg (foot), Brandon Dubinsky (upper body)

Scratched: Ryan Murray

Status report: Grossman is with the team for the four-game trip. Downie is not. "He'll maybe skate tomorrow, which is a positive sign," coach Dave Tippett said of Grossman. "Downie is still a few days away so we left him at home." … There is no word whether Bobrovsky will start back-to-back games.

Who's hot: Hartnell has six goals and two assists in his past eight games. … Richardson has a goal and two assists in the past two games. … The Blue Jackets killed all six penalties Friday against Pittsburgh to run their success streak to 10 shorthanded situations. … Ekman-Larsson has tied his career-high points streak of four games (1-3-4).

Team Stats