Coyotes host Rangers on Sunday in second game of homestand

Oct. 30, 2022 | 5:00 pm MST | Mullett Arena, Tempe, Ariz.
TV: Bally Sports Arizona Extra | Radio: ESPN 620 AM
Look out for Ghost on Howl-o-ween.
The Arizona Coyotes will host the New York Rangers (4-3-2) on Sunday in their second-ever game at Mullett Arena. The Coyotes have earned at least a point in two straight games, and also boast the league's fifth-best power play, tied with the Blackhawks with a 27.59 success rate.
As the team celebrates Howl-o-ween with its fans on Sunday, defenseman Shayne "Ghost" Gostisbehere looks continue his scary-good start to the season.

The 29-year-old defenseman not only leads the team with eight points in seven games, but he's also played particularly well in his career against the Blueshirts, having posted three goals and 12 assists in 25 career games against them.
The two teams will face each other again on Nov. 13 at Madison Square Garden.
Now in their second game at their new, temporary home, coach André Tourigny said the team hopes to build off the electric atmosphere it felt in its home opener.
"That was cool, that game," Tourigny said. "All the ambiance, everything around the game, plus the fans and all of it. That was cool -- now we need to do it again."
Goalie Connor Ingram is expected to make his third start of the season for the Coyotes this evening, and he's coming off a strong performance against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 25. In that game, he earned his first win of the season after stopping 30 of the 33 shots he faced in a 6-3 Arizona victory.

Though the Coyotes' power play has commanded much of the special teams accolades early in the season, their penalty kill has been up to the task as well. Arizona's PK is currently tied for ninth in the league with an 82.76 percent success rate, and was a perfect 5-for-5 on Friday against the Winnipeg Jets.
New York's power play is clicking at 22.86 percent, though, so Sunday's matchup is no easy task.
"We're still early in the season, we're still growing as a team," Tourigny said. "Our D-zone coverage is really good, our PK is really good. We need to clean up a little bit of our tracking, and we need to clean up our neutral zone forecheck."
Tourigny also said he's pleased with the team's progress in the defensive zone. Last season, Arizona allowed the most shots against in the league, but are already trending significantly better this year.
"I like a lot of the stuff we do in our zone," Tourigny said. "If you look, even if we're under siege at times, which will always happen, the number of quality chances, the number of shots are lower than it's been in the past, so we're getting somewhere."

Player to Watch: It's Howl-o-ween, so how could you not keep your eye on Ghost? Gostisbehere has recorded goals at even strength, on the power play, and while shorthanded this season, and his four goals place him second in the league amongst all defensemen.
ABOUT THE RANGERS
New York has had an up-and-down start to the season, winning three of its first four games before dropping four straight, though two of those losses came in either overtime or a shootout. The Blueshirts got back into the win column last night, however, following a 6-3 triumph over the Stars in Dallas.
The Rangers have no shortage of weapons on offense. Artemi Panarin leads the team in points (13) and assists (9), while Mika Zibanejad's five goals are tops. In all, the team has four players on its roster with eight-or-more points.
Goalie Jaroslav Halak is still searching for his first win of the season, posting an 0-3-0 record with a 3.69 goals-against average and .867 save percentage in his three starts this year.
New York is coming off an appearance in the Eastern Conference Final last season, where they fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games.
Player to Watch: As Zibanejad goes, so go the Rangers. Consider this: Every game the 29-year-old has been held without a point, New York has lost, but in any game where he's found the scoresheet, the Blueshirts have come away with a win.