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NHL Preview: Arizona Coyotes (7-11-4) at Calgary Flames (11-10-3)

ARIZONA COYOTES NOTES:

3 HARD LAPS
• The Coyotes have dropped their last 4 games (0-2-2) but are 1-2-2 in their last 5 and captured a point last time out on Saturday

• Matias Maccelli and Dylan Guenther enter tonight among rookie leaders in multiple statistical categories, highlighted by Maccelli pacing the cohort in assists (14)

• Tonight is the penultimate game of the Coyotes’ 14-game road stretch which will conclude on Wednesday

LAST GAME
Canucks 3, Coyotes 2 (OT) – December 3, 2022 – Rogers Arena
ARI Goals: Fischer (5), Chychrun (2)
VAN Goals: Horvat (18, 19), Boeser (4)
ARI Goalie: Vejmelka (O) – 29 svs on 32 shots
VAN Goalie: Martin (W) – 21 svs on 23 shots
PP: 1-3 PK: 6-8
Notes: ARI fell to Vancouver in overtime for its first road OT loss since 3/27/22…Christian Fischer scored for the second consecutive game to give him five tallies on the campaign, already matching last year’s total…Fischer’s goal in back-to-back games is the 8th time in his career he’s done so (never 3 straight)…Saturday was also the second time this season Fischer has found the scoresheet in consecutive contests…Matias Maccelli established his second career 3-game point streak and has recorded a point in four straight personal games…Also being an assist streak, this such run is tied for the longest by a Coyote this season (8 prior instances)…Maccelli enters tonight one helper shy of 20 for his career…Jakob Chychrun tallied his second goal of the season and first PPG of the campaign…Shayne Gostisbehere got back on the scoresheet after a one-game hiatus with an assist, his 100th career power-play helper…Gostisbehere has 5 assists in his last 5 GP…Liam O’Brien picked up an assist for his fourth point of the season (1-3-4), a new personal best…Juuso Valimaki added an assist in what was his 100th career NHL game

MAN GAMES LOST (Name/Roster Status/Injury Type/Games Missed/Last Game Played)

Total man games lost: 63 games
Jakob Chychrun (16), Nick Schmaltz (15), Zack Kassian (9), Connor Timmins (9), Andrew Ladd (6), Josh Brown (3),
Ben McCartney (3), Juuso Valimaki (1), Lawson Crouse (1)

RECENT TRANSACTIONS
-11/23 – Activated F Zack Kassian off IR
-11/23 – Acquired F Curtis Douglas from Toronto in exchange for D Conor Timmins
-11/21 – Placed F Zack Kassian on IR (retroactive to 11/1)
-11/21 – Activated D Jakob Chychrun off IR
-11/21 – Activated F Nick Schmaltz off IR

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
DATE TIME
(AZ)
OPPONENT VENUE TV RADIO
Wed, Dec 7 7:30pm at EDM Rogers Place Bally Sports Arizona
Extra
KTAR 92.3
Fri, Dec 9 7:30pm vs BOS Mullett Arena Bally Sports Arizona
Extra
ESPN 620
Sun, Dec 11 5pm vs PHI Mullett Arena Bally Sports Arizona ESPN 620

YOTES & FLAMES
-Tonight is the first of three ARI-CGY matchups this season and the only one at the Saddledome. They’ll play twice at Mullett Arena on 2/22 and 3/14

-Nick Schmaltz picked up 2 assists over the three matchups with the Flames last season. His five career assists are tied with Clayton Keller for the second most vs CGY among current Coyotes

-Zack Kassian paces current Coyotes in games played (37), goals (6) and assists (7) in his career against the Flames

-If Kassian plays tonight, it’ll be the first time he’s faced the Fames in a non-Battle of Alberta contest since 2/14/15 when he played for Vancouver

-Monday against the Flames is the first time this season the Coyotes will play a road game in their own time zone

-Coyotes franchise vs Flames:
• All-Time: 84-98-20-5
• Home: 50-40-11-1
• Road: 34-58-9-4
• L10: 2-7-1
• STRK: L5

SCORING NOTABLES AGAINST THE FLAMES
Zack Kassian…6-7-13…37 career GP
Clayton Keller…4-5-9…14 career GP
Nick Schmaltz…1-5-6…14 career GP
Career Leaders
Goals (Kassian, 6)… Assists (Kassian, 7)…Points (Kassian, 13)
Career Leaders Among Defensemen
Goals (Chychrun, 2)…Assists (Gostisbehere, 3)…Points (Chychrun, 4)

KELLER INSTINCT
-Clayton Keller enters tonight tied for the Arizona lead in assists (14) and leading the team in points (21) in 2022-23 -Keller’s 21 pts thru ARI’s first 22 GP are the most a Coyotes player has tallied in the team’s first 22 gms since Ladislav Nagy (10-11-21 in 20 GP) and Shane Doan (8-13-21 in 22 GP) in 2003-04

-18 of Keller’s 21 points have come on the road, good for a share of the 4th-most in the NHL this season (McDavid, 21; MacKinnon, 19; Aho, 19; M. Tkachuk, 18; Eichel, 18)

-2022-23 is already Keller’s sixth season of 20+ points. Only Dale Hawerchuk (7) has had more 20+ point seasons in Coyotes/Jets franchise history before turning 25

-The winger enters tonight just below a point-per-game this season (7-14-21 in 22 GP), a mark overall he’s been well clear of since 11/18/21… Keller has registered 32-46-78 in 73 GP since then, with his 1.07 points per game in that span ranking 6th among RW (Min. 50 GP)

IN THE NICK OF TIME
-Nick Schmaltz enters tonight with 4 pts (3-1-4) in 7 GP on the campaign

-All four of his points have come in his last 5 GP. He missed 15 games after opening night due to an upper-body injury

-In his last 82 games (since 4/9/21), Schmaltz has recorded 27-44-71…He’s also tallied 62 pts (26-36-62) in his last 64 games dating back to 12/10/21

-Arizona is 10-3-2 when Schmaltz records a multi-point game since the start of 2021-22

-Since his Coyotes debut on 11/27/18, Schmaltz has recorded 52-102-154 in 209 GP. His 0.74 PPG paces the Coyotes since then (min. 50 GP) and his point total trails just Keller in that span

-The forward enjoyed career-bests in both goals (23) and assists (36) last season for a career-best 59 points…58 of those points came in his final 57 games played after returning from injury

LAYING DOWN THE LAW
-Lawson Crouse returned to the lineup on Saturday after missing the previous game due to illness

-The forward scored his 10th goal in his 20th game of 2022-23, the fewest he’s needed to reach double digits (2022- 23: 20 GP; 2021-22: 37 GP; 2019-20: 41 GP; 2018-19: 61 GP)

-Crouse’s 10 goals in 21 games puts him on approximately a 39-goal pace for an 81-game season (the most he can play this year)

-The last time a Coyote tallied 10+ goals within the team’s first 20 games of a season was Clayton Keller in 2017-18…Nine Coyotes (11 instances) have done it since 1996-97

-Crouse has registered 29 goals (44 pts) in his last 82 games (since 10/23/21)

ROOKIES MAKING THEIR MARK
-Coyotes rookies Dylan Guenther (1st rd, 9th overall in 2021) and Matias Maccelli (4th rd, 98th overall in 2019) come into tonight among NHL rookie leaders in multiple statistical categories Maccelli (2-14-16 in 20 GP)

-Ranks among NHL rookie leaders in assists (1st), points (T-2nd), points per game (2nd, 0.80; [min 15 GP]) powerplay assists (7, 2nd) and Power-play points (8, 2nd)

-Recorded an assist in his 20th game of the season on Saturday. He’s just the third Coyotes rookie (since 1996-97) with 16+ pts within 20 personal GP of a season (source: NHL Stats & Info), joining Clayton Keller in 2017-18 (11-6-17 in 20 GP) and Max Domi in 2015-16 (8-8-16 in 20 GP)

-The only other rookie in Coyotes/Jets franchise history to record 15+ assists in 21 or fewer personal games of a season is Dave Christian (5-16-21 in 15 GP) in 1980-81

-The last NHL rookie to record 15+ assists in 21 or fewer personal games of a season was Cale Makar (5-17-22 in 20 GP) in 2019-20

-Now just one assist shy of 20 for his career, Maccelli can require the 13th-fewest games to reach 20 assists with the Coyotes (since 1996-97) with a helper tonight, his 44th career showing (Source: NHL Stats & Info) Guenther (3-8-11 in 19 GP)

-Ranks among NHL rookie leaders in power-play goals (3, T-1st), power-play points (5, T-5th) and points per game (T-7th, 0.58 [min. 15 GP]

-Recorded two assists on Thursday to boost his season total to 8, which entering tonight has him in the top-10 this season among rookies (T-8th)

-Thursday was Guenther’s third multi-assist game of his rookie season. That’s the fifth-most by a teenager in Coyotes/Jets franchise history [Hawerchuk, 29; Babych, 7; Keller, 5; Mueller, 5]

-With Jack McBain (Trade w/MIN) contributing 2-2-4 in 22 GP, Coyotes rookies have compiled 31 points this season for a share of the second-most cumulative pts by rookies in the NHL

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
The Coyotes are completing a stretch of 14 consecutive road games for the purposes of the Mullett Arena annex construction being completed (on schedule). This stretch from 11/5 – 12/7 is tied for the longest a team has had in NHL history

Rank Team Consecutive Road Games Dates Record
T1 Vancouver 14 straight road games 1/30/10 – 3/10/10 8-5-1
T1 Arizona 14 straight road games 11/5/22 – 12/7/22 TBD
3 NY Islanders 13 straight road games 10/14/21 – 11/16/21 5-6-2
4 San Jose 12 straight road games 1/14/21 – 2/11/21 5-6-1
T5 Philadelphia 11 straight road games 12/23/05 – 1/12/06 8-2-1
T5 Calgary 11 straight road games 2/3/88 – 2/28/88 5-5-1
Note: The Coyotes’ stretch includes 4 different road trips (11/5 – 11/13; 11/17; 11/21–11/27; 12/1–12/7)

2022-23 REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Blocked shots: Brown (44)
Hits: O’Brien (75)
Takeaways: Keller (13)
Shots: Gostisbehere (47)
TOI/G: Moser (23:17)

YOTES COACH’S CHALLENGE
2022-23: 0-for-0, -%
Interference Challenge Rate: 0-for-0 (-%)
Offsides Challenge Rate: 0-for-0 (-)
Miscellaneous Challenge Rate: 0-for-0 (-%)

Last Team Challenge: (W) March 27, 2022 – Original Call Overturned; ARI requested a Coach’s Challenge for a missed stoppage of play. The Situation Room determined that the puck hit the protective netting behind ARI’s net prior to WPG’s Adam Lowry’s goal and, therefore, was out of play

Last Situation Room-Initiated Challenge: (Overturned) Oct. 17, 2022 – Original Call Overturned; The situation room called to review if Morgan Rielly batted the puck with his hand inside the attacking zone before Mitch Marner subsequently gained possession and control. It was deemed that Marner was the first player to gain possession and control of the puck after Rielly batted it with his hand and, therefore, no goal

2022-23 OVERTIME RESULTS: (0-2-2)
Last overtime win: 4/27/22 at DAL (W, 4-3, GWG – T. Boyd)
Last overtime loss: 12/3/22 at VAN (L, 3-2, GWG – B. Horvat)
Last overtime that led to shootout: 11/25/22 at DET

2022-23 SHOOTOUT RESULTS: (0-2)
Last shootout win: 2/1/22 at COL (W, 3-2, SDG – A. Galchenyuk)
Last shootout loss: 11/25/22 at DET (L, 4-3, SDG – D. Larkin)

2022-23 COYOTES RECORD ON…
1-Day Rest: 5-6-2
2-Days Rest: 2-1-1
3+ Days Rest: 0-3-1

Back-to-Backs
Coyotes record on…
First Game of Back-to-Back: 0-1-0
Second Game of Back-to-Back: 0-1-0
When ARI and opponent is completing a back-to-back: 0-1-0
When completing a back-to-back where opponent is not: 0-0-0
When ARI is not completing a back-to-back but opponent is: 0-1-1

CALGARY FLAMES NOTES:

FLAMES LAST GAME RECAP
DECEMBER 3, 2022 – WASHINGTON CAPITALS [2] vs. CALGARY FLAMES [5]
The Calgary Flames welcomed the Washington Capitals to the Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday night for the first and only time this season. The goaltenders would be the stars of the first period until the final two minutes when Blake Coleman would finally solve Darcy Kuemper to give the Flames the lead. The Capitals would strike back before the end of the frame with a Conor Sheary’s power play marker, and after combining for 29 shots, the teams were knotted at one after 20. In the second, Andrew Mangiapane buried his fifth of the season just 1:35 in and that would be the lone tally of the frame. The third period saw four goals, with three of them being scored by the Flames. Adam Ruzicka opened the scoring in the third just over halfway through the period and his marker would hold up to be the game winner. Mangiapane would net his second of the contest, and Elias Lindholm added an empty netter and the Flames won 5-2.
CGY GOAL SCORERS: Coleman (4), Mangiapane (5,6) Ruzicka (6), Lindholm (8)
GOALIE: Vladar (27/29, .931 Sv%)
PP: 0/3 (0%)
PK: 3/4 (75%)

FLAMES LAST FIVE RESULTS, RECORD: 2-3-0
DATE RESULT GWG CGY GOALIE OPP. GOALIE
December 3, 2022 WSH [2] at CGY [5] Ruzicka Vladar Kuemper/ Lindgren
December 1, 2022 MTL [2] at CGY [1] Caufield Markstrom Allen
November 29, 2022 FLA [2] at CGY [6] Andersson Vladar Bobrovsky
November 26, 2022 CGY [2] at CAR [3] Pesce Vladar Raanta
November 25, 2022 CGY [0] at WSH [3] Oshie Markstrom Kuemper
*shootout winning goal

FLAMES UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
DATE TIME
(MST) OPPONENT VENUE
December 5, 2022 7:00pm vs. Arizona Coyotes Scotiabank Saddledome
December 7, 2022 6:00pm vs. Minnesota Wild Scotiabank Saddledome
December 9, 2022 5:00pm at Columbus Blue Jackets Nationwide Arena
December 10, 2022 5:00pm at Toronto Maple Leafs Scotiabank Arena
December 12, 2022 5:00pm at Montreal Canadiens Bell Centre

TONIGHTS STORYLINES & STATS
This is the first of three matchups this season between the Flames and Coyotes. The Flames swept the season-series in 2021-22, outscoring the Coyotes 17-5 in their three meetings. This is a Pacific Division versus Central Division Matchup; The Flames have an overall record of 2-1-0 against Central Division opponents this season and a record of 5-3-0 against Western Conference opponents.

LAST SEASON AGAINST THE COYOTES:
The Flames and Coyotes squared off three times during the 2021-22 campaign, with two of those matchups coming at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The Flames swept the season-series in 2021-22 with the two clubs first two meetings ending in a 4-2 final in favor of Calgary. Their final meeting of the season came on April 16th at the Saddledome, where the Flames matched a season-high in goal output with a 9-1 victory over Arizona. Over their last 10 meetings, the Flames are 8-2-0 against Arizona, and have outscored the Coyotes 41-20 over that span.

LOOK BACKS AT IT:
Mikael Backlund recorded three assists on Saturday nights 5-2 win over the Capitals, becoming the first Flame to have three assists in one game this season. Backlund is now third all-time in assist by a centre in Flames franchise history, passing Tom Lysiak with his three helpers on Saturday. The Swede had one three-assist effort last season (Feb. 9, 2022 vs. VGK) and prior to that has only had two such games in his career with his first coming on Apr. 6, 2011 vs. the Edmonton Oilers and the other coming on Nov. 7, 2015 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. All four times Mikael Backlund has recorded three assists in a game have come at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

RED-HOT RUZICKA:
With his three-point effort against the Capitals on Saturday night (1-2 – 3), Adam Ruzicka is now the Flames all-time points leader by Slovakian-born players. Ruzicka drew level in points with his assist against the Canadiens on Thursday night with previous leader Ronald Petrovicky who had 21 points (9G, 12A) in 107 games with the Flames over two seasons. Ruzicka’s three-point night catapulted him to the top of the list and the Bratislava, SK native has also surpassed his previous season’s point total (5-5-10) which he set in 28 games during 2021-22. Ruzicka is currently second in NHL scoring among Slovakian-born players, only trailing New Jersey’s Tomas Tatar and Ruzicka is also the only active Slovakian-born NHLer in 2022-23 to record a three-point game, and Saturday night was his second three-point effort.

BREAD MAN:
Andrew Mangiapane had his first two-goal game of the season on Saturday against Washington in Calgary’s 5-2 win. The 26-year-old had six two-goal games in 2021-22, and through his career he has 11 multi-goal games, and the Flames have a record of 9-0-1 when Mangiapane scores more than once. Since the start of last season, the Flames are 11-2-1 on home ice when Mangiapane scores and are 3-1-0 so far this season when Mangiapane scores at the Saddledome. Through his career, Mangiapane has six points (1G, 5A) in 10 career matchups against the Coyotes.

BURNING HOT:
Dan Vladar recorded his second-straight win on Saturday night wit his 29-save effort to help the Flames knock off the Capitals 5-2. Over his last two starts, Vladar has recorded over a .930 save-percentage with just two goals against in each his last two contests. Another Flame who has been hot has been Dillon Dube, who has four points over his last two games (1G, 3A). Dube has enjoyed playing at home and has seven points in 14 games at the Saddledome this year (2G, 5A) and has three points (2G, 1A) in six career matchups against Arizona including two goals at the Saddledome in the team’s final meeting last season.

REVERSE RETRO:
Tonight will be the Flames second time wearing their 2022 Adidas Reverse Retro jersey. The jersey is a reverse of the Flames 1995 threads, this time in black instead of red or white. This is the second of four-straight home games the Flames will wear their 2022 Reverse Retro jerseys with the other two games coming against Minnesota and Vancouver. The Flames went 3-3-0 in their Reverse Retro jerseys from the 2021 series and are 1-0-0 so far in the 2022 series thanks to a 5-2 win over Washington on Saturday night.

DID YOU KNOW?
The Flames have won six-straight games against the Coyotes at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Mikael Backlund scored his first NHL goal against the Coyotes on January 28th, 2010. Brett Ritchie skated in his first NHL game and scored his first NHL goal against the Arizona Coyotes back on December 31st, 2014. Tyler Toffoli scored his first NHL goal and picked up his first NHL assist against the then Phoenix Coyotes on March 18th, 2013.

CALGARY FLAMES vs. ARIZONA COYOTES
ALL-TIME HOME AWAY L10 STRK
CGY vs. ARI 103-77-20-7 62-32-9-2 41-45-11-5 8-2-0 W5

GAME INFO:
Calgary Flames vs. Arizona Coyotes
7:00pm MT
Scotiabank Saddledome
TV: Sportsnet One
Radio: Sportsnet Fan 960

2022-23 Season Series: 0-0-0 (Home: 0-0-0, Road 0-0-0)
Dec. 5, 2022 – ARI at CGY
Feb. 22, 2023 – CGY at ARI
Mar. 14, 2023 – CGY at ARI

2021-22 Season Record vs. ARI: 3-0-0 (Home: 2-0-0, Road: 1-0-0)
Last Home Win vs. ARI: April 16, 2022 – Arizona [1] vs. Calgary [9]
Last Road Win @ ARI: February 2, 2022 – Calgary [4] at Arizona [2]
Last Home Loss vs. ARI: April 3, 2022 – Arizona [4] vs. Calgary [1]
Last Road Loss @ ARI: November 16, 2019 – Calgary [0] at Arizona [3]
2022-23 CALGARY FLAMES

FLAMES RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
Nov. 6 – recalled Nick DeSimone (D) and Dennis Gilbert (D) from Calgary (AHL); placed Michael Stone (D) on IR
Nov. 13 – reassigned Dennis Gilbert (D) to Calgary (AHL)
Nov. 15 – recalled Dennis Gilbert (D) from Calgary (AHL): reassigned (D) Nick DeSimone to Calgary (AHL)
Nov. 27 – reassigned Dennis Gilbert (D) to Calgary (AHL)

FLAMES RECENT INJURIES (Total man games lost – 20)
Noah Hanifin – illness (1 game: Oct. 21)
Chris Tanev – upper-body (5 games: Nov. 3 – Nov. 10)
Jonathan Huberdeau – upper-body (3 games: Nov. 8 – Nov. 12)
Michael Stone – lower-body (11 games: Nov. 7 – Nov. 25)

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