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

Friday, 13 November 2015

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

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Saturday, November 14, 2015

7:00 PM ET

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

TV: FS-A+, FS-O

Season series: The Arizona Coyotes outscored the Columbus Blue Jackets 10-4 in sweeping two games last season. Forward Martin Hanzal led Arizona with four points (three assists), and forward Tobias Rieder and defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson each scored two goals.

Coyotes team scope: Defenseman Nicklas Grossmann, who has missed the past three games because of a lower-body injury, traveled to Columbus for the first of a four-game road trip, but forward Steve Downie (upper body) did not, the Arizona Republic reported Friday. Arizona has won three games in a row, including a 4-1 victory against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday. "There's still lots of growing to do in this group," coach Dave Tippett told the Coyotes website, "but the thing I like about them right now on the bench is the guys are pushing each other to do the right things." Goalie Mike Smith is 3-1-0 with a .926 save percentage in his past four starts. Ekman-Larsson has a goal and three assists during a four-game point streak.

Blue Jackets team scope: Center Brandon Dubinsky is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. He was a late scratch from the lineup for a 2-1 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday, and coach John Tortorella had no update after the game. With no extra forwards in Pittsburgh, Ryan Murray, who was to be a healthy scratch after he had a minus-2 rating in back-to-back games, dressed in Dubinsky's place as a seventh defenseman. Columbus was 6-for-6 on the penalty kill against the Penguins and is 11-for-12 in the past three games, but captain Nick Foligno said the Blue Jackets have to cut down on the shorthanded situations. "When you put yourself in that situation ... you can battle out of it and find a way, and we did," he said. "It wasn't pretty and we actually made some really good plays on the penalty kill and got some really good opportunities on it. So, you have to address that against a good team, because more times than not they're going to make you pay, but tonight we stuck with it." Columbus is 5-5-0 under Tortorella, who was hired Oct. 21 after Todd Richards was fired following an 0-7-0 start. Forward Brandon Saad has five points (two goals) in the past five games; the Pittsburgh native had an assist and the game-winning goal Friday.