At the Rink: Kings at Coyotes

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Looking to spark the Arizona Coyotes after four straight losses on home ice, coach Dave Tippett may drop rookie forward Anthony Duclair to the fourth line against when they play the Los Angeles Kings at Gila River Arena on Saturday (9 p.m. ET; FS-W, FS-A, PLUS).

The Coyotes didn’t skate Saturday, but Viktor Tikhonov was skating with Max Domi and Martin Hanzal on the second line during practice Friday. Duclair, who has two of his 12 goals in the past 15 games, joined Kyle Chipchura and Boyd Gordon on the fourth line.

There might be some shake-ups on defense as well, but it won’t be known until pregame. Defenseman Jarred Tinordi has not made his Arizona debut since being acquired from the Montreal Canadiens last week.

“These are tight games, there are just things we can do a little better to get the result we want,” Tippett said. “I didn’t like the way we started the game (Thursday), and that’s not just young guys. It goes right through our lineup. For some guys, it’s all about work, while other guys tend to rely more on their skill. Right now, we need everybody to work in games.”

Duclair agreed that hard work is the answer to tipping close games in Arizona’s favor.

“It’s a question of working harder in all three zones,” he said. “When we’re a good team, we’re rolling and we’re a confident group. Now we’re struggling and we need to get back to basics. We had good starts in the past games against L.A. and we need to do that now. We’ve been behind in these games, and when we get behind, then we start working.

“Since the Christmas break, it’s getting more serious. Everyone is fighting for a playoff spot and as a rookie this is my first taste of that playoff mentality. You need to be focused every game.”

Just nine days ago, the Coyotes (22-19-5) were riding a season-high four-game winning streak and sat alone in second place in the Pacific Division. Arizona blew a 2-0 third-period lead to the Detroit Red Wings and lost in overtime Jan. 14. That was the last point they earned, losing at home to the New Jersey Devils (2-0), Buffalo Sabres (2-1) and San Jose Sharks (3-1) as teams have passed them in the standings.

Each of the three was a low-scoring, tight-checking game, but the Coyotes are now fourth in the Pacific Division.

“We haven’t played that bad, we’re just not getting the results,” Tippett said. “But we probably didn’t deserve the results we got in some games we won.”

Captain Shane Doan will play in his 1,432nd NHL game. That will tie Mike Gartner, who scored more than 700 goals and ended his long career as Doan’s teammate in Arizona, for 25th place in the all-time NHL games-played list.

The Coyotes are 2-0-1 against the Kings (29-14-3) this season. Los Angeles most recently won 4-3 in overtime on Dec. 26.

After scoring 13 goals in the previous four games, the Kings were shut out 3-0 against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday and now have back-to-back road games within the division. They play against the San Jose Sharks on Sunday.

The Kings did some juggling to their lines as well. Dustin Brown was skating with Dwight King and Jeff Carter on Saturday, and Marian Gaborik and Vincent Lecavalier were with Trevor Lewis. Christian Ehrhoff was skating with Luke Schenn on defense, with Brayden McNabb paired with Drew Doughty.

Goalie Jonathan Quick will start for the Kings, and goalie Louis Domingue will start for the Coyotes.

KINGS

Milan Lucic – Anze Kopitar – Tyler Toffoli

Dwight King – Jeff Carter – Dustin Brown

Marian Gaborik – Vincent Lecavalier – Trevor Lewis

Tanner Pearson – Nick Shore – Jordan Nolan

Brayden McNabb – Drew Doughty

Alec Martinez – Jake Muzzin

Christian Ehrhoff – Luke Schenn

Jonathan Quick

Jhonas Enroth

Injured: Matt Greene (shoulder), Kyle Clifford (upper body)

Scratched: Andy Andreoff, Jamie McBain

COYOTES

Max Domi - Antoine Vermette - Mikkel Boedker

Tobias Rieder - Martin Hanzal - Viktor Tikhonov

Jordan Martinook - Brad Richardson - Shane Doan

Kyle Chipchura - Boyd Gordon - Anthony Duclair

Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Connor Murphy

Klas Dahlbeck - Zbynek Michalek

Nicklas Grossmann - Michael Stone

Louis Domingue

Anders Lindback

Injured: Mike Smith (abdominal surgery), Joe Vitale (fractured orbital bone)

Scratched: Kevin Connauton, Jarred Tinordi

Status report: The Coyotes are hoping to have goalie Mike Smith back practicing with the team not long after the All-Star break. Smith, who underwent abdominal surgery in December, skated and faced some light shots Saturday in drills. He will work more intensely while the Coyotes are on the road next week.  

Who's hot: Domi has nine goals and 17 points in 14 games against Pacific Division opponents. … Ekman-Larsson has three goals and four points in three games against the Kings. … Toffoli and Doughty each has three points against the Coyotes.