{coyotes} COYOTES (16-15-3) at AVALANCHE (17-17-1)

Saturday 26 December 2015

{coyotes} COYOTES (16-15-3) at AVALANCHE (17-17-1)

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Sunday, December 27, 2015

8:00 PM ET

COYOTES (16-15-3) at AVALANCHE (17-17-1)

TV: FS-A, ALT2

Season series: The Arizona Coyotes defeated the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 at Gila River Arena on Nov. 5. Defenseman Nicklas Grossmann scored his first two goals of the season for Arizona. Cody McLeod and Matt Duchene had goals for Colorado.

Coyotes team scope: Arizona figures to be shorthanded down the middle against Colorado. Azsports.com said a team official confirmed that Martin Hanzal and Boyd Gordon did not make the trip to Denver. Hanzal (lower body) hasn't played since Dec. 19. Gordon was injured Saturday on a third-period hit to the head by Los Angeles Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin that resulted in a match penalty. The Coyotes scored two power-play goals during the major penalty to get a point, but lost 4-3 in overtime. The Coyotes led 1-0 after two periods but allowed three third-period goals before scoring twice to earn a point. "We battled back there and got a point out of it but we have to play better in the third period," said defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who scored the tying goal with 3:23 remaining in the third period. "We played them hard in the first and second [periods], and then we got away from that." Goaltender Anders Lindback will start after Louis Domingue played the past three games.

Avalanche team scope: Goaltender Semyon Varlamov will start Sunday; backup Reto Berra will miss the next 10 days with an ankle injury, and the Avalanche called up Calvin Pickard from Lake Erie of the American Hockey League to take his place. Coach Patrick Roy said Pickard will start Monday at the San Jose Sharks. Roy shuffled his top two lines at practice Saturday, moving John Mitchell between Gabriel Landeskog and Duchene, with Nathan MacKinnon centering Alex Tanguay and Jarome Iginla. "We need to get some scoring from our top line," Roy said, according to the team website. Defenseman Brandon Gormley will replace Nate Guenin, though Roy said Guenin is fine after leaving a 7-4 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday with a head injury. Gormley will play with Zach Redmond.