Preview: Coyotes Face Lightning in Tampa on Thursday

Jan. 25, 2024 | 5:00 pm MST | Amalie Arena, Tampa, Fla.
TV: Arizona 61 | Radio (Stream Only): Arizona Sports App; NHL App

That Arizona Coyotes are set to face the Lightning in Tampa on Thursday, marking the second of back-to-back games for the Desert Dogs. The Coyotes have earned at least one point in four of their last six games, but are coming off a 6-2 loss to the Florida Panthers on Wednesday.

The Coyotes and Lightning are playing for the second-and-final time this season. Arizona won the first meeting, 3-1, on Nov. 28 at Mullett Arena.

Dylan Guenther and Logan Cooley scored for Arizona on Wednesday, and the 20-year-old Guenther has three goals and three assists in nine games this season. Cooley, meanwhile, has points in consecutive games, and 23 points in 46 games.

Goalie Connor Ingram is expected to get the start, and the netminder is 4-1-1 in his last six appearances. He has won two straight starts, and is 2-0-0 with a 0.48 goals-against average and .987 save percentage against Tampa Bay, earning the win earlier this season.

Forward Alex Kerfoot has recorded at least one point in six of his last seven road games, and is second on the Coyotes in road points since Dec. 21.

The Coyotes wrap up their pre-All-Star break schedule on Saturday at Carolina.

Player to Watch: Forward Clayton Keller has seven goals and four assists in 11 career games against Tampa Bay.

ABOUT THE LIGHTNING
Tampa Bay resides in the Eastern Conference’s first Wild Card spot with 55 points, and has won six of its last seven games overall. Forward Nikita Kucherov leads the team with 80 points, which is also second-most in the league, and Brayden Point (50), Victor Hedman (46), Steven Stamkos (43), and Brandon Hagel (40) round out the team’s top five in scoring.

Point scored the team’s lone goal when the two teams met earlier this season.

Between the pipes, Andrei Vasilevskiy is expected to get the start tonight, and the former Vezina Trophy winner has done the lion’s share of work this season, posting a 14-10-0 record with one shutout, a 2.84 GAA and .901 SV%. The 29-year-old is 6-2-0 with a 2.17 GAA and .929 SV% in his career against Arizona.

Tampa Bay ranks 11th in the league in both goals-for and goals-against per game with 3.38 and 3.29, respectively, and its 30.46 percent power-play conversion rate is tops in the league. The Lightning boast a strong penalty kill, as well, ranking 12th with an 89.77 percent success rate. 

Player to Watch: None other than Kucherov, who is on pace for a career-best 137 points this season. He’s coming off a four-point game against the Flyers (3G, 1A), and has 11 points over his last five games.