Pre-Game Capsule: Coyotes at Sharks

GAME 45:
Coyotes (10-28-6) at Sharks (21-13-6)
Arizona will play the second game of back-to-back games on Saturday night when it takes on the Sharks in San Jose.

WHERE: SAP Center
WHEN: 8:30 p.m. (AZ time)
TV: FOX Sports Arizona
RADIO:Arizona Sports 98.7 FM

KEY FACTS:
• Arizona will enter this game less than 24 hours after losing to Edmonton, 4-2, at Gila River Arena on Friday night in its first game after the team's League-mandated "bye week." The Coyotes are seeking their first win in the second game of back-to-back games this season. They're 0-6-1 thus far in Game 2 of back-to-backs.
• Backup Scott Wedgewood will get the start in goal after watching Antti Raanta tend net vs. Edmonton on Friday. Wedegwood last played on Dec. 28 when he allowed six goals vs. Toronto in a 7-4 loss.
"I'm fresh, so hopefully that's where we have the advantage, we got a fresh goalie in net," Wedgewood said. "If we do have a tough couple minutes, hopefully I can step up."

• Rookie Clayton Keller enters tonight's game leading the Coyotes in scoring with 14 goals, 19 assists and 33 points. Keller leads all NHL rookies with 119 shots, and also leads all first-year forwards in time on ice per game (18:49).
• Jason Demers has notched five points (three goals, two assists) in seven games vs. San Jose, the team that drafted him 186th overall in 2008.
• Zac Rinaldo will return to the lineup after serving a six-game suspension handed down by the NHL for throwing an unsuspecting punch at Colorado defenseman Samuel Girard in a game played Dec. 23.

• The Sharks, who haven't played since Sunday, are 0-2-1 in their past three games and sit in fourth place in the Pacific Division standings with 48 points, 12 behind first-place Vegas. San Jose ranks fifth in the NHL in power-play efficiency at 22.2 percent, and ranks second in the NHL in penalty-kill efficiency at 84.0 percent. Logan Couture is the team's top goal scorer with 16. He and Brent Burns co-lead San Jose with 30 points. Joe Thornton is two points shy of tying Adam Oates (1,420) for 17th place on the NHL's all-time scoring list. Martin Jones will start in goal. He owns a 6-2-2 record, a 1.39 goals-against average and a .943 save percentage vs. the Coyotes in 10 games.
COYOTE BITES
• "Playing back-to-back games is always tough, especially when you're traveling. We've just got to keep it a simple game. We're playing a very good team that has a lot of starpower who can score on one bad turnover. We have to make sure we don't make any blatant turnovers in the neutral zone. And we have to play with speed, throw pucks on net and make all five of their players turn around to play defense. That's huge, no matter who we're playing. I think it comes down to hard work. We've got to make sure we're outworking these guys, and we've got to have a good start. If we have a bad start, it's hard to climb up that ice when you're down in an opposing building. " -- Christian Fischer
• "I'm very eager, very excited. At the same time, I've just got to stay calm. I've been through this situation before and fortunately I've adapted to what I need to do coming back into a game after I've missed a certain number of games. I'm excited and I'm here to do whatever I need to do to help my team win." -- Zac Rinaldo
• "This is a mental toughness game ... They're really good around the net and they're good at any kind of stick deflections or any kind of shot-pass. They're heavy in the sense that they win battles. That's soemthing that we're going really going to have to improve on when we play these teams. We've got to use our quickness agaisnt this team." -- Rick Tocchet