ARIZONA COYOTES NOTES:
3 HARD LAPS
• Arizona is 3-1-1 in its last 5 games and 6-3-1 in its last 10 GP. Since 12/9, the club is averaging 3.50 goals per game to rank 7th in the NHL in that span
• The defensive pairing of Shayne Gostisbehere and Jakob Chychrun have combined for 33 points since 11/23, the most among defensemen teammates in the NHL in that span
• The Coyotes begin a four-game road trip tonight. The team will not play more than three consecutive road games the rest of the season after this current trip’s completion
LAST GAME
Coyotes 6, Maple Leafs 3 – December 29, 2022 – Mullett Arena
ARI Goals: Bjugstad (8), Chychrun (4), Moser (5), McBain (5, 6), Hayton (2)
TOR Goals: Holmberg (3), Jarnkrok (8), Kerfoot (6)
ARI Goalie: Vejmelka (W) – 29 svs on 32 shots
TOR Goalie: Murray (L) – 17 svs on 21 shots
PP: 2-3 PK: 0-2
Notes: ARI swept the season series with Toronto and have beaten the Maple Leafs 4 consecutive times… In the calendar year of 2022, the Coyotes went 4-0-0 against the Maple Leafs with a +7 goal differential (17-10)…ARI’s four goals in the third period mark the most the team has tallied in any period this season and the most in a third period since 4/26/22 at MIN…Nick Bjugstad opened the scoring for ARI with an unassisted goal at 0:46 into the 1st period and assisted on Jack McBain’s game-winning goal later on…Bjugstad (8-7-15) has already eclipsed last season’s goal and assist figures…McBain’s performance featured his first career multi-goal game as well as his first career game-winning goal in the NHL…Barrett Hayton led all skaters with 3 pts (1-2-3), his third career three-point game to tie his career-high…All three of Hayton’s points came in the 3rd period, the most points in a frame by a Coyote this season…Thursday was Hayton’s first multi-point game of the season…Arizona is 5-0-0 this year when Hayton gets an assist…Jakob Chychrun scored fourth goal of the season, his 17th point (4-13-17) in his last 17 GP…Shayne Gostisbehere notched an assist to establish a 3-game point streak…JJ Moser scored and has lit the lamp in consecutive games for the second time this season…Nick Ritchie assisted on Chychrun’s goal and threw a career-high-tying 9 hits…Juuso Valimaki has recorded an assist in back-to-back games, the second time this season he’s found the scoresheet in consecutive outings…Karel Vejmelka improved to 11-9-4 on the season and is now 6-0-2 at home…The last time the Coyotes scored 2 ENGs in a game was 2/9/22 at SEA; They last time they did it at home was 1/14/20 vs SJ…Thursday was the 6th time this season ARI potted 2 PPGs in a game…The Coyotes kept the quartet of Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner-William Nylander-John Tavares off the scoresheet
MAN GAMES LOST (Name/Roster Status/Injury Type/Games Missed/Last Game Played)
Matias Maccelli…Week-to-Week…Lower-Body (2 / 12/23)
Liam O’Brien…Week-to-Week…Upper-Body (6 / 12/16)
Total man games lost: 71 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
-12/27 – Recalled F Michael Carcone from Tucson (AHL)
-12/18 – Assigned F Jan Jenik to Tucson (AHL)
-12/17 – Recalled F Jan Jenik from Tucson (AHL)
-12/15 – Assigned D Dysin Mayo to Tucson (AHL)
-12/8 – Loaned F Dylan Guenther to Team Canada for the 2023 WJC
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
DATE TIME
(AZ)
OPPONENT VENUE TV RADIO
Tue, Jan 3 5pm at FLA FLA Live Arena Bally Sports Arizona TBD
Thur, Jan 5 5pm at PHI Wells Fargo Center Bally Sports Arizona TBD
Fri, Jan 6 6:30pm at CHI United Center Bally Sports Arizona Extra TBD
YOTES & BOLTS
- Tonight is the first of two ARI-TBL matchups this season. They’ll play again in Tempe on 2/15
- Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz both scored the last time ARI-TBL played on 2/11/22 (4-3, L). Keller also chipped in an assist in that contest
- Keller’s seven career goals versus TBL are tied for the most he’s posted against an NHL team in his career (DET, STL). He’s also registered 5 pts (3-2-5) in his last 3 GP vs TBL
- Nick Bjugstad leads current Coyotes in career goals against the Lightning with 10. He scored the last time he faced the Lightning on 11/28/21 as a member of the Wild
- In the all-time series between the two franchises, every game but two has been decided in regulation. The only Coyotes-Lightning game that was not been decided in regulation was 3/10/14 (4-3, W [SO]), and the other occurred in the Original Jets era on 1/16/94 (3-2, L [OT])
- Coyotes franchise vs Lightning:
• All-Time: 20-25-0-0
• Home: 11-13-0-0
• Road: 9-12-0-0
• L10: 5-5-0
• STRK: L2
SCORING NOTABLES AGAINST THE LIGHTNING
Nick Bjugstad…10-7-17…22 career GP
Nick Schmaltz…2-4-6…9 career GP
Clayton Keller…7-3-10…8 career GP
Travis Boyd…0-2-2…5 career GP
Career Leaders
Goals (Bjugstad, 10)… Assists (Bjugstad, 7)…Points (Bjugstad, 17)
Career Leaders Among Defensemen
Goals (Gostisbehere, 3)… Assists (Stecher, 3)…Points (Gostisbehere, 5)
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING NOTES:
LAST GAME
Lightning 2 vs. NY Rangers 1 (SO)
The Tampa Bay Lightning collected a second-straight win and a sixth-straight victory at AMALIE Arena with a 2-1 shootout win over the New York Rangers on Thursday night…The Bolts improved to 22-11-1 on the season with a home record of 14-4-1…The Lightning and NYR have split two matchups this season with one meeting remaining April 5 at Madison Square Garden…The Bolts improved to 5-2-3 in their last 10 home games vs. NYR…Mika Zibanejad opened the scoring 12:45 into the first period to give NYR a 1-0 lead…Following a scoreless second period, Brayden Point scored his team-leading 20th goal of the season to tie the game with 14:28 remaining in regulation off assists from Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov…After the Lightning successfully killed off a 4-on-3 advantage for NYR during overtime, the game advanced to a shootout…Brayden Point scored in the shootout for Tampa Bay and Artemi Panarin found the back of the net for NYR to force sudden death…In the sixth round of the shootout, Alex Killorn beat Igor Shesterkin on the blocker side before Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped Adam Fox to win the game for the Bolts…Vasilevskiy won his second game in as many nights with 45 saves on 46 shots against for his fifth win in his last six starts.
PP: TBL – 0-1 NYR – 0-3
SOG: TBL – 40 NYR – 46
Attendance: 19,092
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
The Lightning and the Coyotes are playing the first of two matchups this season and the only meeting at AMALIE Arena…The Bolts posted a 2-0-0 record vs. ARI last season…Steven Stamkos (3-1—4) led Tampa Bay in goals vs. ARI last season and was tied with Alex Killorn (2-2—4) for the team lead in points…Brian Elliott and Andrei Vasilevskiy each earned one win vs. ARI last season…The Lightning are 6-3-1 in their last 10 home games vs. ARI and 5-5-0 in the last 10 meetings overall…The Bolts have scored two or more goals in 13 of the last 15 matchups vs. ARI and have scored three or more in 11 of those contests…Tampa Bay has outshot ARI in seven of the last 10 games…The Lightning have allowed just one power-play goal on 23 opportunities for ARI over the last 10 meetings at AMALIE Arena (95.7 PK%)…Stamkos has recorded points in five consecutive games vs. ARI (4-4—8) and 13 of his last 15 contests against the Coyotes (9-8—17)…Killorn has picked up points in five straight games vs. ARI (3-4— 7)…Nikita Kucherov has pointed in four of his five career home games vs. ARI (7-1—8)…Brayden Point has collected points in four straight games vs. ARI (2-2—4)…Victor Hedman has recorded points in seven of his last 10 contests vs. ARI (2-5—7)…Elliott is 11-3-1 in 15 career starts and 18 appearances vs. ARI with two shutouts, a .913 save percentage and 2.21 goals against average…Tampa Bay is 25-19-1 all-time vs. ARI, including a home record of 12-8-1…Vincent Lecavalier (9-12—21) holds the Lightning franchise record for career points vs. ARI.
TBL ALL-TIME POINT LEADERS VS. ARI
- Vincent Lecavalier – 21 pts. (9-12—21, 17 GP)
- Steven Stamkos – 18 pts. (9-9—18, 18 GP)
- Martin St. Louis – 16 pts. (8-8—16, 15 GP)
T4. Nikita Kucherov – 12 pts. (9-3—12, 12 GP)
T4. Ondrej Palat – 12 pts. (7-5—12, 15 GP)
T4. Alex Killorn – 12 pts. (4-8—12, 16 GP)
TONIGHT’S STORYLINES
Tampa Bay is playing the third and final game of a three-game homestand tonight…The Bolts will play nine of their 13 games in December on home ice…The Lightning are 4-0-0 against Central Division opponents this season…Tampa Bay is 14-4-1 at home this season and have won six straight games at AMALIE Arena…The Bolts have won seven of eight home games in December…Since 2011, the Lightning have posted a 6-0-1 record on New Year’s Eve.
INJURIES
2022-23 Regular Season Man Games Lost: 79
Current Injuries:
Rudolfs Balcers (Upper-body injury; Out indefinitely) 14 Games
TRANSACTIONS
Dec. 3 – Re-assigned D Philippe Myers to AHL Syracuse
Dec. 3 – Assigned F Cole Koepke to AHL Syracuse
GAME POINT
Bolts forward Brayden Point scored his team-leading 20th goal of the season and added a shootout goal Dec. 29 vs. NYR…Point hit the 20-goal mark for the sixth-straight season, making him the fifth player in Lightning franchise history to do so (also: Vincent Lecavalier, 12; Martin St. Louis, 9; Steven Stamkos, 8; Nikita Kucherov, 7)…Point extended his home goal streak to seven games, tying Kucherov (2021-22) for the longest such run in Tampa Bay franchise history…Point has found the back of the net in three consecutive games and eight of his last 10 contests (10-1—11)…Since Nov. 25, only Connor McDavid (16) has scored more goals than Point’s 14…Point (20-15—35) leads all Lightning skaters in goals and game-winning goals (6), while ranking third in points and fifth in assists…Only Leon Draisaitl (8) has scored more game-winning goals than Point this season…Point has recorded a shot on goal in every game this season…Point recorded his 400th career point with a goal Dec. 21 at DET…Point became the first member of the 2014 NHL Draft Class drafted outside of the first round to record 400 career points…Point is tied with Kucherov for the fourth-most game-winning goals in Tampa Bay franchise history (41)…Point’s 20 goals are tied for the 11th-most among all NHL skaters…Despite being the only player in the top five drafted outside the first round and the only one to play in less than 500 career games, Point (187-216—403) ranks third in points among all 2014 NHL Draft picks.
