ARIZONA COYOTES NOTES:
3 HARD LAPS
• Arizona is 3-2-0 in its last 5 games and 5-4-1 in its last 10 GP but look to snap a 9-game road winless streak
• The defensive pairing of Shayne Gostisbehere and Jakob Chychrun have combined for 33 pts since 11/23. The duo, who are both Florida natives, both enter tonight in the NHL’s top-10 in points among defensemen in that span
• An assist from Nick Ritchie or Lawson Crouse would establish a new career-high assist streak for them. Ritchie is also two helpers away from 100 for his career
LAST GAME
Lightning 5, Coyotes 3 – December 31, 2022 – Amalie Arena
ARI Goals: Boyd (4), Fischer (7), Bjugstad (9)
TBL Goals: Point (21), Sergachev (6), Stamkos (17), Killorn (11), Hagel (14)
ARI Goalie: Vejmelka (L) – 30 svs on 35 shots
TBL Goalie: Vasilevskiy (W) – 28 svs on 31 shots
PP: 0-1 PK: 1-3
Notes: Travis Boyd and Christian Fischer scored two goals 34 seconds apart in the first period…Boyd is now 10 points from 100 in his career…Fischer’s goal was the 50th of his career…Nick Bjugstad added a goal and has scored in back-to-back games and holds a 3-game point streak (2-2-4 in that span)…Nick Ritchie established his first 3-game point streak of the season while also tying his career-long 3-game assist streak (five previous instances)…Clayton Keller registered an assist to widen his team lead in points to 34 (13-21-34)…Barrett Hayton also chipped in an assist and has 4 pts (1-3-4) in his last 2 GP…Lawson Crouse also enters tonight with a 3-game assist streak…Shayne Gostisbehere registered 7 shots to overtake the team-lead on the season…Saturday was just the fourth regulation loss this season for ARI when scoring 3+ goals
MAN GAMES LOST (Name/Roster Status/Injury Type/Games Missed/Last Game Played)
Nick Schmaltz…Day-to-Day…Upper-Body (1 / 12/29)
Matias Maccelli…Week-to-Week…Lower-Body (3 / 12/23)
Liam O’Brien…Week-to-Week…Upper-Body (7 / 12/16)
Total man games lost: 74 games
Jakob Chychrun – 16 (10/13 – 11/17) – Upper-Body
Nick Schmaltz – 15 (10/15 – 11/17) – Upper-Body
Zack Kassian – 9 (11/1 – 11/21) – Lower-Body
Connor Timmins – 9 (10/15 – 11/5) – Upper-Body
Andrew Ladd – 6 (N/A) – Undisclosed
Josh Brown – 3 (11/23 – 11/27) – Upper-Body
Ben McCartney – 3 (10/13 – 10/17) – Lower-Body
Juuso Valimaki – 1 (11/23) – Upper-Body
Lawson Crouse – 1 (12/1) – Illness
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
-12/31 – Recalled F Lauren Dauphin from Tucson (AHL)
-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
Thur, Jan 5 5pm at PHI Wells Fargo Center Bally Sports Arizona ESPN 620
Fri, Jan 6 6:30pm at CHI United Center Bally Sports Arizona Extra TBD
Sun, Jan 8 5pm vs PIT Mullett Arena Bally Sports Arizona Extra TBD
YOTES & CATS
- Tonight is the second of two ARI-FLA games this season. The Yotes beat the Panthers 3-1 on 11/1, the Coyotes’ first ever win at Mullett Arena
- The last time the Coyotes and Panthers played in FL was 10/25/21 (5-3, L). Clayton Keller and Liam O’Brien both scored in that contest
- Lawson Crouse and Nick Ritchie scored for ARI in the 11/1 game while Keller deposited the ENG. Keller also assisted on Ritchie’s game-winning goal
- Ritchie comes into tonight with 4-1-5 in his last 6 GP versus the Panthers
- Patrik Nemeth’s 8 career pts (1-7-8) versus FLA are the highest total he’s posted against an NHL team. He earned an assist in the 11/1 matchup
- Karel Vejmelka enters tonight with a 1-1-0 record, a 2.42 GAA and a .944 SV% in his career vs FLA
-Coyotes franchise vs Panthers:
• All-Time: 20-16-3-2
• Home: 11-6-3-2
• Road: 9-10-0-0
• L10: 3-7-0
• STRK: W1
SCORING NOTABLES AGAINST THE PANTHERS
Patrik Nemeth…1-7-8…22 career GP
Shayne Gostisbehere…3-4-7…14 career GP
Clayton Keller…3-4-7…9 career GP
Christian Fischer…2-2-4…8 career GP
Lauren Dauphin…1-1-2…2 career GP
Career Leaders
Goals (Ritchie, 4)… Assists (Nemeth, 7)…Points (Nemeth, 8)
Career Leaders Among Defensemen
Goals (Gostisbehere, 3)… Assists (Nemeth, 7)…Points (Nemeth, 8)
FLORIDA PANTHERS NOTES:
BAPTIST HEALTH INJURY REPORT
- F Anthony Duclair | Games Missed: 38
- F Patric Hornqvist | Games Missed: 13
- F Chris Tierney | Games Missed: 8
Total Man Games Lost Due to Injury: 116
LAST GAME
Panthers 3, Rangers 5 – Jan. 1 – FLA Live Arena
FLA Goals: Cousins (4), Bennett (8-PPG), E. Staal (4)
NYR Goals: Zibanejad (17-PPG, 18), Kreider (17), Trocheck (13-PPG), Panarin (10)
FLA Goalie: Bobrovsky (L) – 23 Saves
NYR Goalie: Halak (W) – 32 Saves
FLA Shots: 35
NYR Shots: 28
Notes: Eric Staal (1-1-2) registered his first multi-point game with the Panthers…Sam Bennett scored his second power-play goal of the campaign and led Florida with six shots on goal…Josh Mahura and Gustav Forsling each notched an assist…Brandon Montour led Florida with 26:24 time on ice and five hits…FLA PP: 1-4, FLA PK: 2-4
RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
- Jan. 1: F Chris Tierney loaned to Charlotte (AHL)
- Dec. 31: F Anton Levtchi loaned to Charlotte (AHL)
- Dec. 27: D Matt Kiersted and F Anton Levtchi recalled from Charlotte (AHL)
- Dec. 23: F Givani Smith recalled from Charlotte (AHL) on emergency conditions | D Matt Kiersted, F Givani Smith and F Grigori Denisenko loaned to Charlotte (AHL)
PANTHERS vs. COYOTES
ALL-TIME vs. ARI: 18-15-3-5
ALL-TIME HOME vs. ARI: 10-8-0-1
2022-23 vs. ARI: 0-1-0
CATS STATS
- The Panthers have scored at least three goals in 13 of their 18 home games this season.
- Matthew Tkachuk has amassed 21 points (9-12-21) over 18 career matchups with Arizona.
- Aleksander Barkov has produced 10 points (5-5-10) over 13 career games vs. the Coyotes.
- The Panthers lead all teams with 36.3 shots on goal per game.
CATS AND COYOTES
Tonight, the Panthers and Coyotes will face off for the second and final time this season. Florida has won three of its past four matchups with Arizona, as well as six of their past seven contests against the Coyotes at FLA Live Arena since Oct. 30, 2014. In Arizona’s previous visit on Oct. 25, 2021, Joe Thornton (42 years, 115 days) became the second-oldest player to score a goal for the Panthers as the Cats downed the ‘Yotes, 5-3. Sam Bennett and Brandon Montour each notched two assists in the game.
PANTHER CUBS ON THE WORLD STAGE
Panthers prospects are representing their countries at the 2023 IIHF U20 World Junior Championship in Halifax and Moncton, Nova Scotia.
• Defenseman Ludvig Jansson (’22 Round 4, 125th overall) has registered a team-high seven points (3-4-7) over five games for his home nation, Sweden, including an overtime goal against Czechia in the group stage. His three goals are the most of any defensemen in the WJC so far, helping Sweden advance to the semifinal on Wednesday, Jan. 4.
• Forward Jakub Kos (’21 Round 6, 184th overall) has produced four points (1-3-4) over five games for Czechia, including two points (1-1-2) and a plus-three rating against Germany on Dec. 31. Czechia has also advanced to the semifinal round.
• Forward Sandis Vilmanis (’22 Round 5, 157th overall) scored a goal for his home nation of Latvia in Game 1 of their relegation-round matchup with Austria.
