ARIZONA COYOTES NOTES:
3 HARD LAPS
• The Coyotes finish their three-game east coast road trip with a matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Coyotes are wrapping up their third back-to-back of the season while the Penguins have not played since 12/8. Since 11/9, Arizona’s PK% has held at 89.6% (sixth), whereas Pittsburgh’s PP% has leveled out at 2.4% (32nd) in that time. In all but one of Arizona’s 13 wins, they have matched or outscored their opponent in PPGs that game. • Michael Carcone continues to lead the league in shooting percentage (35.9%) and has scored seven goals in his last seven games. He is now tied for 12th in the NHL in goals (14) and tied for third in even-strength goals (12). • Logan Cooley (3-12-15) returns to play an NHL game in his hometown of Pittsburgh for the first time. Cooley is tied for the lead in assists among NHL rookies and has the same number of assists as Pittsburgh Penguins star forward, Sidney Crosby.
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 (4-16-20) 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 tied for second on the squad in points, tied for third in goals, and tied for fifth in assists and currently averages .74 P/GP. · Nick Bjugstad is tied for the league lead 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 nine points in his last seven games and is now third on the team in assists. He also carries the sixth longest active consecutive games played streak at 290 games. . Michael Carcone leads the Coytes in goals (14) and had his first career goal streak from 11/28-12/4 (4 games). He is now tied for third in the NHL in even-strength goals (12). . 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 eight players in the NHL with 20 or fewer GP and three or more PPG. . J.J. Moser owns the highest plus-minus on the team with +10, which is tied for the 16 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 tied for the second-most goals scored in the first and second period with 66.
YOTES & PENGUINS
-Today is the first of two ARI-PIT matchups this season. The Pens will visit Mullett Arena on 1/22, the second of two final home games before the All-Star break. – Sean Durzi’s first career three-point game (1-2-3) came against the Penguins in January 2022. – Jason Zucker spent four seasons with Pittsburgh (2019-23). In two games against Pittsburgh last season, Zucker scored three points (2-1-3) as a Penguin.
Coyotes franchise vs Penguins
• All-Time: 30-49-3-4
• Home: 18-18-3-4
• Road: 12-31-0-0
• L10: 0-8-2
• STRK: L4
INJURY UPDATE (total man games lost to injury: 67 games)
Jack McBain – 14 (11/11-12/11) – Lower-Body
Barrett Hayton – 11 (11/18-12/11) – Lower-Body
Vladislav Kolyachonok – 7 (11/28-12/11) – Lower-Body
Travis Boyd – 5 (12/2-12/11) – Upper-Body
Sean Durzi – 1 (12/11) – Lower-Body
KILLING IT
– Since 11/9, the Coyotes have held a 89.6% PK, good for sixth best in the league during that span. In that time, the Coyotes have been shorthanded 48 times and have the third-best PK% of any team with 45 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 15 games, their 89.6% PK improved their overall season percentage to 81.1% (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.
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS NOTES:
LAST 2 GAMES
Dec. 8: Florida 3, Pittsburgh 1 – Amerant Bank Arena
PIT Goals: Smith
Multiple Points: None
Goalie: Jarry (30 saves, 32 shots)
Key Stats: Valtteri Puustinen notched his first point of the year in his season debut.
PP: 0-3
PK: 2-2
Dec. 6: Tampa Bay 3, Pittsburgh 1 – Amalie Arena
PIT Goals: Guentzel
Multiple Points: None
Goalie: Jarry (25 saves, 28 shots)
Key Stats: Jake Guentzel scored the lone goal for Pittsburgh to extend his point streak to seven games.
PP: 0-4
PK: 2-4
INJURIES
Position Player Status Consecutive Games Missed Total Games Missed
D P.O Joseph Lower-Body 16 16
F Rickard Rakell Upper-Body 9 9
D Chad Ruhwedel Lower-Body 9 9
F Noel Acciari Lower-Body 4 4
F Matt Nieto Lower-Body 4 4
F Bryan Rust Upper-Body 1 4
2023-24 Total Regular-Season Man-Games Lost: 69
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Dec. 10 F Jesse Puljujarvi joined Pittsburgh as a free agent tryout. D P.O Joseph recalled from his conditioning load to WBS (AHL).
Pittsburgh’s All-Time Record vs. Coyotes: 53-29-4
In Pittsburgh: 31-12-0
In Arizona: 22-17-4
OT Record vs. Coyotes: 5-4-2
Shootout Record vs. Coyotes: 2-0
2022-23 Results: Pittsburgh went 2-0-0.
Penguins All-Time Point Leaders vs. COYOTES:
Mario Lemieux – 26GP, 53 PTS (19G-34A)
Sidney Crosby – 22GP, 34 PTS (12G-22A)
Evgeni Malkin – 22GP, 29 PTS (9G-20A)
TONIGHT’S GAME
-The Penguins return home to the friendly confines of PPG Paints Arena to take on the Arizona Coyotes (TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh; Radio: 105.9 The X). -Last season, Pittsburgh swept the season series against Arizona, going 2-0-0 and outscoring them by a 10-3 margin. -Pittsburgh has won 10-consecutive games against Arizona, and have points in each of its last 13 games (12-0-1) dating back to Feb. 29, 2016. -The Penguins have points in seven of 10 games against Western Conference opponents this season (6-4-1).
QUICK HITS
1) Tonight, Assistant Equipment Manager Dan Kroll is working his 1,000th professional hockey game. Kroll has spent 18 seasons in professional hockey, all with the Pittsburgh Penguins organization.
2) Pittsburgh is 12-0-1 under the leadership of Mike Sullivan versus the Coyotes.
3) Erik Karlsson (19) is on the brink of hitting the 20-point plateau. He is looking to become the fifth player on Pittsburgh to accomplish this feat, joining Jake Guentzel (29), Sidney Crosby (27) and Evgeni Malkin (22) and Bryan Rust (20). As a team, Pittsburgh is looking to become the seventh squad with five or more 20-point scorers.
4) Sidney Crosby has 34 points (12G-22A) in 22 career games against the Coyotes. Here at home, Crosby has multiple points in three-straight games against Arizona (3G-5A) and has been held without a point just twice in 11 games (6G-14A).
5) Only Joe Pavelski (6) has more game-winning goals against the Coyotes than Evgeni Malkin (4) among active players.
