ARIZONA COYOTES NOTES:
3 HARD LAPS
• The Coyotes head to KeyBank Center and look to break their two-game losing streak with a win against the Sabres. Arizona won their last matchup in Buffalo 4-1, a game in which Clayton Keller, Matias Maccelli, and Liam O’Brien each had two points. • Michael Carcone enters the game averaging just over one goal per two GP (13 G, 25 GP) and looks to continue leading the league in shooting percentage (34.2%). • Jason Zucker (5-4-9) is amidst his first three-game point streak of the season and can extend the streak to four with a point in Buffalo. Zucker is a +7 in the team’s last six games, good for second on the team and T-fourth in the NHL in that time.
PACK FACTS
Clayton Keller (9-16-25) was the first Coyote to reach the 20-point mark this season. This is the third straight season that he was first on the team to reach the mark, and the fifth time he has done so since his 2017-18 rookie campaign. Logan Cooley became the third-youngest Coyote (19y, 191d) to record three points in a game (Chychrun, 18y, 345d) in their win against Nashville. · Matias Maccelli (4-15-19) tied the ARI/WIN franchise record for most consecutive home games with a point to start a season (8 games), previously set by Igor Korolev in 1995-96. · Nick Schmaltz (9-11-20) is second on the squad in points, tied for third in goals, and tied for fourth in assists and currently averages .77 P/GP. · Nick Bjugstad leads the league in GDG (2) and recorded the team’s first ENG (11/11 at NSH) and SHG (12/4 vs WSH) this season. Sean Durzi leads the Coyotes in TOI (22:25). Among NHL players with 22+ minutes of TOI/G, he is fifth in shooting percentage (11.4%). . Alex Kerfoot has recorded eight assists in his last six games and is now third on the team in assists. He also carries the sixth longest active consecutive games played streak at 289 games. . Michael Carcone leads the Coytes in goals (13) and had his first career goal streak from 11/28-12/4 (4 games). He is now tied for sixth in the NHL in goals scored at home (9). . Lawson Crouse tied his career long five-game point streak last month (10/24-11/4) and scored ten of his 12 goals in November. . Troy Stecher scored his first goal as a Coyote in Nashville in his 73rd game with the team. . Jason Zucker scored his third power play goal of the year against Dallas and is one of six players in the NHL with 19 or fewer GP and three or more PPG. . J.J. Moser owns the highest plus-minus on the team with +9, which is tied for the 18 th highest plus-minus among NHL defensemen. . Josh Brown lit the lamp for the first time this season against Chicago, and now sits one goal away from ten career NHL goals. . Connor Ingram recorded his second shutout of the season against Washington and is the only goaltender in the NHL with both 2 points and 2 shutouts. . Karel Vejmelka recorded the first point of his NHL career against LAK, a secondary assist on a Sean Durzi goal. . The Coyotes are second in the NHL in goals scored in the first and second period with 65.
YOTES & SABRES
-Today is the first of two ARI-BUF matchups this week. The two teams will meet again in five days at Mullett Arena. – Nick Bjugstad has four career multi-point games against Buffalo and has at least one point in over half of his career games against the franchise. – Since the relocation to Arizona, the Coyotes are 16-18-3-3 against the Sabres.
Coyotes franchise vs Sabres
• All-Time: 28-48-7-3
• Home: 16-23-2-1
• Road: 12-25-5-2
• L10: 4-5-1
• STRK: L1
INJURY UPDATE
(total man games lost to injury: 62 games)
Jack McBain – 13 (11/11-12/9) – Lower-Body
Barrett Hayton – 10 (11/18-12/9) – Lower-Body
Vladislav Kolyachonok – 6 (11/28-12/9) – Lower-Body
Travis Boyd – 4 (12/2-12/9) – Upper-Body
KILLING IT
– Since 11/9, the Coyotes have held a 89.1% PK, tied for the fifth best in the league during that span. In that time, the Coyotes have been shorthanded 46 times and have the second-best PK% of any team with 40 or more times shorthanded. – Through the first 12 games of the season, the Coyotes had a PK% of 71.4% (T-25th). Over the next 14 games, their 89.1% PK improved their overall season percentage to 80.7% (14 th). – The Coyotes killed 18 straight opponent power plays from 11/16-11/28, spanning six games. – Went 7-7 on the PK against St. Louis on 11/9, one of only three teams to kill 100% of PP opportunities with seven or more times shorthanded in a game this season. The last time the Coyotes went 7/7 or better on the PK was 1/8/15. – The Coyotes did not allow a PPG in their four game season series against the Blues, the first time they have done so in a four-game series since 2019-20 against the Ducks.
BUFFALO SABRES NOTES:
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 96)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Jack Quinn (Achilles, Oct. 12; injured reserve) – 28 games
Zemgus Girgensons (lower body, Nov. 25; injured reserve) – 8 games
Jordan Greenway (upper body, Dec. 3; injured reserve) – 4 games
Alex Tuch (undisclosed; injured reserve) – 3 games
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (illness) – 3 games
TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES VS. COYOTES
• This is the first of two meetings between the Sabres and Coyotes this season. • Next meeting: Saturday, Dec. 16 in Arizona. • Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Arizona 5-2 in Arizona on Dec. 17, 2022. • The Sabres are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games against the Coyotes; 5-3-2 at home. • This is the 87th game all-time between Buffalo and Arizona; Buffalo has a 51-25-10 series record. • The Sabres are 27-9-8 at home against the Coyotes all-time.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
• Buffalo has earned at least one point in 19 of its last 24 games against Arizona (17-5-2), including wins in three of the team’s last four games against the Coyotes. • Tage Thompson has tallied a point in each of the three games (1+2) he has played in since returning from injury and a point in tonight’s game would give him a four-game point streak, which would mark the second time he has notched a point in four consecutive games this season. • Thompson recorded 11 points (5+6) in 10 games played before his injury. • Kyle Okposo recorded his 600th NHL point on Dec. 9 vs. Montreal and a goal in tonight’s game would give him a goal in two or more consecutive games for the second time this season. • A goal in tonight’s game would also give Okposo a goal in two consecutive games against Arizona. • Connor Clifton has registered an assist in back-to-back games and assist in tonight’s game would give him a three-game assist streak, which would match the longest assist streak of his career (Oct. 12 to 17, 2022 with Boston). • Jeff Skinner has recorded three points (2+1) in his last three games. • Rasmus Dahlin has notched 10 points (3+7) in his last 11 games. • Dating back to Nov. 14 (13 games), Victor Olofsson is tied for the most points (10) among all Sabres skaters. § Nine of his 10 points in that span have come in even-strength situations.
COYOTE UGLY
• In eight games against Arizona as a member of the Sabres, Jeff Skinner has registered nine points (6+3), including a three-point (2+1) performance in the last meeting between the two teams. • Tage Thompson has tallied at least one point in three consecutive games against the Coyotes and he has recorded five points (2+3) in that span. • With a point in tonight’s game, Thompson would become the first Sabres skater since Skinner from Oct. 13, 2018 to Feb. 29, 2020 (4+2) to record a point streak of four or more games against the Coyotes. • In his last three games against the Coyotes, Rasmus Dahlin has notched four points (0+4), including at least one assist in each of the three games in that span. • If he records an assist in tonight’s game, Dahlin would become the third Buffalo defenseman, and the first since Phil Housley from Jan. 29, 1986 to Feb. 12, 1988 (6 games, 1+8), to notch at least one assist in four or more games against the Coyotes.
SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK]
1-10: 5-5-0 (10), 32/29, 3/30, 36/40
11-20: 4-4-2 (10), 25/34, 5/27, 26/32
21-30: 2-5-1 (5), 22/31, 4/25, 11/18
