ARIZONA COYOTES NOTES:
3 HARD LAPS
• Arizona has captured at least a point in all three games of this road trip (1-0-2) and is 4-3-2 thru the first 9 games of its current road stretch
• JJ Moser enters tonight on a career-high 4-game point streak, while Nick Schmaltz, Jakob Chychrun, Shayne Gostisbehere and Clayton Keller have notched at least a point in back-to-back games
• Tonight is Arizona’s first visit to Minnesota since 4/26/22 when Travis Boyd notched the game-winning goal
LAST GAME
Red Wings 4, Coyotes 3 (SO) – November 25, 2022 – Little Caesars Arena
ARI Goals: Schmaltz (2), Moser (2), Chychrun (1)
DET Goals: Copp (2), Hronek (6), Oesterle (1)
ARI Goalie: Vejmelka (O) – 33 svs on 36 shots
DET Goalie: Husso (W) – 21 svs on 24 shots
PP: 0-4 PK: 2-4
Notes: ARI fell in shootout but established a 3-game point streak (1-0-2)…The Coyotes now hold a 5-game point streak versus Detroit…Clayton Keller reached the 20-point threshold on the year with an assist…Nick Schmaltz scored for the second consecutive game and picked up his first assist of the season…Schmaltz and Jakob Chychrun (1-1-2) earned their first multi-point games of the campaign…The multi-point performance for Chychrun was the 23rd of his career, the 12th-most by a d-man in Coyotes/Jets franchise history…at 19:34 in the 3rd, Chychrun’s tally is the latest game-tying goal by a Coyote since Keller (19:59) on 2/8/21…Chychrun registered 8 shots for the second straight game…JJ Moser established a career-high 4-game point streak with a goal…Karel Vejmelka stopped 33-of-36 shots
MAN GAMES LOST (Name/Roster Status/Injury Type/Games Missed/Last Game Played)
Josh Brown…Day-to-Day…Upper-Body (2 / 11/21)
Total man games lost: 61 games
Jakob Chychrun (16), Nick Schmaltz (15), Zack Kassian (9), Connor Timmins (9), Andrew Ladd (6), Ben McCartney
(3), Juuso Valimaki (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
Thur, Dec 1 8:30pm at LAK Crypto.com
Arena
Bally Sports Arizona ESPN 620
Sat, Dec 3 8pm at VAN Rogers Arena Bally Sports Arizona 98.7 FM
Mon, Dec 5 7pm at CGY Scotiabank
Saddledome
Bally Sports Arizona
Extra
ESPN 620
YOTES & WILD
-Today is the first of four ARI-MIN matchups this season. They’ll play again at Xcel Energy Center (1/14) followed by two contests in Tempe (2/6 and 3/12)
-The Coyotes beat the Wild the last time they met (4/26/22) to snap an 8-game losing streak vs MIN
-Travis Boyd potted the game-winning goal in the 4/26/22 victory. Shayne Gostisbehere (0-3-3), Barrett Hayton (0-2-2) and Nick Schmaltz (0-2-2) all chipped in multi-assist games in that victory
-Gostisbehere recorded 6 pts (1-5-6) over the three ARI-MIN matchups last season. He’ tallied all 9 of his career points (1-8-9) vs MIN within his last six appearances against them
-Schmaltz (2-13-15 in 23 GP) and Jakob Chychrun (7-2-9 in 20 career GP) have both faced the Wild 20-plus times in their careers
-Chychrun’s seven goals vs MIN are tied with Roman Josi for the most a defenseman has posted against them since the start of 2016-17
-Coyotes franchise vs Wild:
• All-Time: 31-41-3-4
• Home: 16-21-1-2
• Road: 15-20-2-2
• L10: 2-8-0
• STRK: W1
SCORING NOTABLES AGAINST THE WILD
Nick Schmaltz…2-13-15…23 career GP
Jakob Chychrun…7-2-9…20 career GP
Clayton Keller…5-6-11…19 career GP
Troy Stecher…1-6-7…14 career GP
Shayne Gostisbehere…1-8-9…12 career GP
Jack McBain…1-0-1…1 career GP
Career Leaders
Goals (Chychrun, 7)… Assists (Schmaltz, 13)…Points (Schmaltz, 15)
Career Leaders Among Defensemen
Goals (Chychrun, 7)…Assists (Gostisbehere, 8)…Points (Chychrun/Gostisbehere, 9)
KELLER INSTINCT
-Clayton Keller enters tonight leading Arizona in assists (13) and points (20) in 2022-23
-Keller picked up an assist on Friday to reach the 20-pt benchmark in his 19th game of the year. Since the franchise relocated to Arizona, Keller is the fifth player (seventh instance) to record 20+ points within the team’s first 19 games of a season
-Wednesday was the second straight game Keller found the scoresheet. He has not gone consecutive games without a point in 2022-23, and has notched a point in all but two road games
-17 of Keller’s 20 points have come on the road. That figure is tied with Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby for the most road points in the NHL
-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 also enters tonight averaging over a point-per-game this season (7-13-20 in 19 GP)…A mark he’s been well clear of overall since 11/18/21… Keller has registered 32-45-77 in 70 GP since then, with his 1.10 points per game in that span ranking 6th among RW (Min. 50 GP)
IN THE NICK OF TIME
-Nick Schmaltz registered his first multi-point game of the season on Friday with a goal and an assist to give him 3 pts (2-1-3) in his first 4 games this season as well as 8 pts (2-6-8) in his last 8 GP dating back to 4/23/22
-In his last 82 games (since 4/4/21), Schmaltz has recorded 26-45-71
-Since his Coyotes debut on 11/27/18, Schmaltz has recorded 51-102-153 in 206 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…He finished 2022-23 with a point in each of his last 4 regular-season games
EAT YOUR VEGGIES
-Karel Vejmelka stopped 33-of-36 shots on Friday in the shootout loss. The performance came on the heels of his second shutout of the season on 11/23
-The netminder has stopped 69-of-72 shots over his last two appearances to maintain his season .916 SV%, good for a share of 10th in the NHL (min. 10 GP)
-Vejmelka is one of six goalies to have multiple shutouts in 2022-23: Ville Husso (3), Logan Thompson, Ilya Sorokin, Connor Hellebuyck and Darcy Kuemper
-His 36 saves in Wednesday’s shutout marks the fourth-highest sv total in a shutout by an NHLer on the campaign (Sorokin, 49; Sorokin, 41; Knight, 40)
-The two shutouts in November of 2022 makes Vejmelka the first Coyote netminder to notch multiple shutouts in a calendar month since Darcy Kuemper (2) in Nov. of 2019
-Vejmelka has put together a 7-6-1 record with a .927 SV% and 2.48 GAA in 16 career November games. All 3 of his career SO have come in that month
-Vejmelka is one of 15 goaltenders to register 3+ career shutouts with the Coyotes/Jets franchise
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 Macceli (1-10-11 in 17 GP)
-Ranks among NHL rookie leaders in assists (T-1st), points (T-2nd), points per game (T-2nd, 0.65; [min 10 GP]) power-play assists (6, 2nd) and power-play points (7, T-1st)
-Became the first NHL rookie to reach 10 points on the season with an assist on 11/12
-Ranks tied for second on the Coyotes in assists and tied for fourth in points Guenther (3-6-9 in 17 GP)
-Ranks among NHL rookie leaders in power-play goals (3, T-1st), power-play points (5, 4th) and goals (T-8th)
-Got back on the scoresheet with an assist on Wednesday and enters tonight in the top-10 for assists this season by NHL rookies (T-9th)
-Guenther is the fifth player in Coyotes/Jets history to score his first 3 career goals on the power play. He joins Craig Norwich (first 6 goals), Bill Thomas (first 4 goals), Boris Mironov (first 4 goals) and Luciano Borsato (first 3 goals)
-Among players to debut with the Coyotes/Jets franchise history, only four players have recorded 3+ PPGs within his first 13 career games (Teemu Selanne [9 PPG] in 1992-93, Craig Norwich in 1979-80, Luciano Borsato in 1990-91 and Michael Bunting in 2020-21)
-In that criteria, Selanne is the only player in franchise history to record 4+ PPGs within his first 18 career games
-With Jack McBain (Trade w/MIN) contributing 2-2-4 in 19 GP, Coyotes rookies have compiled 24 points for the fourth-most cumulative pts by rookies in the NHL
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
The Coyotes are in 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 (40)
Hits: O’Brien (64)
Takeaways: Keller (12)
Shots: Gostisbehere (44)
TOI/G: Moser (23:40)
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: (0-1-2)
Last overtime win: 4/27/22 at DAL (W, 4-3, GWG – T. Boyd)
Last overtime loss: 10/28/22 vs WPG (L, 3-2, GWG – B. Wheeler)
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)
MINNESOTA WILD NOTES:
SERIES NOTES
All-Time Wild Record: 45-26-8 (22-12-5 at Xcel Energy
Center, 23-14-3 at Arizona)
2021-22: Minnesota went 2-1-0 in the season series… The Wild earned a 5-2 victory in the first meeting at Gila River Arena (11/10), won the second game, 5-2, at Xcel Energy Center (11/30) and dropped the third meeting, 5-3, at home (4/26)…LW Kirill Kaprizov led the Wild with five points (2-3=5)…C Joel Eriksson Ek (3-1=4) and LW Jordan Greenway (1-3=4) tallied four points each… LW Kevin Fiala (1-2=3), C Ryan Hartman (1-2=3) and D Jon Merrill (0- 3=3) recorded three points each… G Kaapo Kahkonen went 2-0-0 with a 2.01 GAA and a .930 SV% in two starts…G Marc-Andre Fleury made 21 saves in the third meeting…D Shayne Gostisbehere led Arizona with six points (1-5=6)…RW Clayton Keller (1-2=3) and RW Phil Kessel (1- 2=3) recorded three points each…G Karel Vejmelka went 1-1-0 with a 4.84 GAA and a .867 SV% in two starts…G Scott Wedgewood started the second game and 0-1-0 with a 2.25 GAA and a .889 SV% in two contests.
WILD LEADERS: RW Mats Zuccarello leads the Wild with 22 points (5-17=22) in 23 games against the Coyotes…D Jared Spurgeon owns 21 points (5-16=21) in 33 contests…LW Marcus Foligno has 17 points (9-8=17) in 23 games…Kaprizov owns 15 points (7-8=15) in 11 contests.
WILD GOALIES: Fleury is 15-9-1 with a 2.145 GAA, a .921 SV% and three shutouts in 27 games (26 starts) against the Coyotes…G Filip Gustavsson has not faced Arizona.
COYOTES LEADERS: LW Andrew Ladd leads Arizona with 20 points (6-14=20) in 34 contests…C Nick Schmaltz owns 15 points (2-13=15) in 23 matches…Keller has 11 points (5-6=11) in 19 games.
COYOTES GOALIES: Vejmelka is 1-1-0 with a 4.84 GAA and a .867 SV% in two career starts against the Wild…G Jon Gillies has not faced Minnesota.
FAST FACTS: Minnesota’s 44 all-time wins against Arizona are T-4th for most against an opponent…The Wild is 12-2-0 in its last 14 games against the Coyotes and 25-6-3 in its last 34 meetings against Arizona, including a 12-game point streak (9-0-3, 1/9/14-2/8/18) – the longest
point streak in franchise history vs. an opponent…Minnesota is 16-5-1 in the last 22 games at Arizona, including 13-3-1 in the last 17 contests… The Wild is 11-2-2 in the last 15 games played in Saint Paul.
INJURIES
Brandon Duhaime: upper body
Ryan Hartman: upper body
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Nov. 16, 2022 – Nov. 26, 2022
11/24/22 Reassigned G Zane McIntyre to Iowa
11/23/22 Acquired F Ryan Reaves from the New York Rangers in
exchange for a 2025 fifth-round draft pick
11/19/22 F Tyson Jost claimed off waivers by Buffalo
11/18/22 Recalled F Nic Petan from Iowa and reassigned F
Adam Beckman to Iowa
11/16/22 Recalled G Zane McIntyre from Iowa
SHORT (HANDED) KINGS
• Minnesota is tied for first in the NHL with four shorthanded goals this season.
• The total is the team’s highest through a season’s first 20 games since the 2018-19 season (four SHG)
PENALTY KILLERS
• The Wild is tied for ninth in the NHL with a 81.8 pct. penalty kill percentage (12 of 66) this season.
• Minnesota killed all seven opponent power-play opportunities in its last three games.
• In nine games played since Nov. 8, Minnesota has recorded a 90.6 pct. penalty-kill percentage (29 of 32), the second-best mark in the NHL.
WE’RE HEADED TO OVERTIME
• This season, Minnesota has three victories in games decided past regulation, tied for fifth-most in the NHL. The Wild has two overtime wins and one shootout victory.
• Since the start of the 2021-22 season, Minnesota leads the NHL with 19 victories in extra-session games.
• During the 2021-22 season, the Wild ranked second in the NHL with a franchise record 11 overtime wins and ranked tied for second with five shootout wins, good for 16 total extra-session victories.
• Minnesota went 16-7 in 23 extra session games during the 2021-22 season – its most extra session contests since 23 in 2013-14. The 16 extra session wins are the second-most in team history (17 in 2006-07).
