Pre-Game Capsule: Coyotes at Ducks

GAME 41:
Coyotes (9-26-5) at Ducks (17-14-8)
Arizona will play its final game of 2017 on Sunday when it takes on Anaheim in a New Year's Eve matinee.

WHERE: Honda Center
WHEN: 2 p.m. (AZ time)
TV: FOX Sports Arizona
RADIO:KTAR News 92.3 FM

KEY FACTS:
• The Coyotes have posted a 7-4-1 record on New Year's Eve since moving from Winnipeg to Arizona in 1996. However, they are 0-4-1 on the road on Dec. 31, and 7-0-0 at home.
• Antti Raanta will start in goal after sitting out the team's 7-4 loss to Toronto on Thursday night at Gila River Arena. Raanta last played on Dec. 27 when he stopped 25 shots in a 3-1 victory at Colorado.
• Rookie Clayton Keller will enter the game with a career-high seven-game point streak that includes two goals and six assists. Keller ranks tied for second among NHL rookies in goals (13) and third in points (31).
• Rookie Christian Fischer has scored three goals in the past five games and ranks second on the team with 10, three behind Keller. Fischer played a season-high 18:30 vs. Toronto on Thursday.

• Newcomer Josh Archibald will try to extend his point streak to three games. Archibald, whom Arizona acquired from Pittsburgh via trade on Dec. 19, has notched two points in four games with the Coyotes, and is averaging 2.5 hits per game.
• Arizona will again play minus defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson (upper-body injury), and forwards Brad Richardson (upper-body injury) and Zac Rinaldo (suspension).
Hjalmarsson, who hasn't played since Nov. 28, practiced with the Coyotes on Saturday and is nearing a return to action.
"He's actually feeling better," Tocchet said. "I don't have an exact time frame, but he's had some really good days the past couple days."
Richardson skated away from teammates after practice on Saturday. Rinaldo has served two games of a six-game suspension handed down by the NHL on Dec. 27.

• The Ducks have won three of their past four games, but still rank fourth in the Pacific Division with 42 points after a mediocre start to the season, by their standards. Injuries to key players have played a role in their 17-14-8 record. Anaheim has won just nine of 20 home games this season, and its eight overtime losses are the most in the NHL. Rickard Rakell leads the Ducks with 12 goals and 27 points. Ryan Getzlaf ranks fifth on the team with 18 points despite missing 24 games. Goalie John Gibson is 12-12-4 with a 2.72 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage.

COYOTE BITES
• "They've been a great team for a long time and they're a heavy team. It's going to be a good challenge for us and we're looking forward to it. We let that first game against them (in October) slip away in the third period; they scored four answered goals. They have a lot of depth throughout their lineup and they can score at will so we've got to make sure we play our style and stick to our game plan and execute it to a T. We've got to be careful." -- Christian Fischer on playing Ducks
• "It's obviously different, but it's the same for both teams. It's kind of nice. I like it. You get up, have some breakfast and just go to the rink and play. It's not too long of a day. You've just go to be ready when the puck drops." -- Alex Goligoski on playing matinees
• "They're getting all of their healthy guys back. They're starting to get healthy and they're going to make a stretch drive and we're in their way. We have to play a solid game to go in there and win that game." -- Rick Tocchet on playing Ducks