Preview: Coyotes Close Out Road Trip in Pittsburgh on Tuesday

Dec. 12, 2023 | 5 pm MST | PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, PA

WHERE TO WATCH:
• Antenna: 61.1 Phoenix, 9.2 Tucson
• Phoenix Cable: Cox 95
• Phoenix Satellite: DirecTV Channel 61, Dish Network Channel 61
• Bullhead City / Lake Havasu: Optimum channel 6
• Flagstaff: American Cable channel 4, Optimum Cable channel 6
• Maricopa: Orbitel channel 11
• Pinal County: Mediacom channel 13
• Prescott: Sparklight channel 61
• Sedona: Optimum Cable channel 6
• Show Low / Winslow Sparklight channel 61
• Tucson: Cox channel 85, Xfinity channel 1179, Orbitel channel 208

WHERE TO LISTEN:
• Radio: ESPN 620
• Stream: Arizona Coyotes App, NHL Mobile App

The Arizona Coyotes will close out their three-game road trip in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, playing in the second of back-to-back games before returning home for three games at Mullett Arena beginning on Friday.

Arizona and Pittsburgh meet for the second-and-final time on Jan. 22 at Mullett Arena. The Penguins won both meetings last season, 6-2 on Oct. 13 and 4-1 on Jan. 8.

The Coyotes most recently dropped a 5-2 decision in Buffalo on Monday, getting goals from Michael Carcone and Michael Kesselring. It was Kesselring’s first career NHL goal, while Carcone, meanwhile, leads the team with 14 goals in his first full NHL season. The 27-year-old leads the league in shooting percentage, and is tied for the 12th-most goals just one season removed from winning the AHL’s scoring title.

Tuesday’s game also marks rookie Logan Cooley’s return to his hometown of Pittsburgh, and the 19-year-old is tied for the lead among all NHL rookies with 12 assists. General Manager Bill Armstrong drafted Cooley third overall in 2022, which made him the highest-drafted Pittsburgh native in NHL history.

Goalie Connor Ingram is expected to start tonight after backing up Karel Vejmelka yesterday. Ingram has dropped his last two starts, however, he is still 11-5-0 with a 2.52 goals-against average, .920 save percentage and two shutouts this season.

Player to Watch: Forward Jason Zucker returns to Pittsburgh for the first time since signing a one-year deal with the Coyotes as a free agent this past summer. The 31-year-old played 172 games over four seasons with the Penguins from 2019-20 to 2022-23, recording 50 goals and 45 assists over that span.

ABOUT THE PENGUINS
Pittsburgh has dropped four straight games, slipping to seventh in the Metropolitan Division at 11-12-3 following its most recent loss, a 3-1 defeat against the Florida Panthers on Friday. The Penguins have four players with 20-or-more points presently: Jake Guentzel (29), Sidney Crosby (27), Evgeni Malkin (22), and Bryan Rust (20). 

Between the pipes, Tristan Jarry has done the lion’s share of work, posting an 8-10-2 record with a 2.48 GAA, .918 SV%, three shutouts, and he even scored a goal earlier this season. Alex Nedeljkovic has played in five games, posting a 2-2-1 record with a 2.18 GAA and .937 SV%.

Pittsburgh ranks 24th in goals-for per game (2.88) while allowing the sixth-fewest (2.62), and ranks 30th with a 9.46 power-play percentage. It’s penalty kill has been strong, however, killing off 83.54 percent of penalties, which ranks 10th in the league.

Player to Watch: Guentzel has five points over his last five games, and he averages over a point-per-game against the Coyotes, notching four goals and seven assists in 10 career games against the Desert Dogs.