The Coyotes return to the road to begin a stretch of three Central Division games in a span of five days. First up is the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night (Nov. 12) for the first tilt of a back-to-back series the Coyotes have on Friday and Saturday (Nashville). Puck drop against the Blackhawks is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. The game will be will be
streamed exclusively on Hulu or ESPN+
(Play-by-Play: Leah Hextall; Analyst: Dominic Moore).
PACK FACTS
Friday is the first time the Blackhawks and Coyotes will play each other as divisional opponents since April 12, 1998 (2-1 W) when the Coyotes were previously a member of the Central Division.
The 2021-22 season marks the fourth time that the Coyotes and Blackhawks franchises are divisional opponents. Both competed in the Smythe Division from 1979-81, the Norris Division in 1981-82 and the Central Division from 1993-98. The Coyotes/Jets hold a 21-18-3 edge over Chicago in inter-divisional games.
Arizona went 2-0-1 against Chicago in 2019-20. In the last win, (Dec. 12, 2019), Clayton Keller tallied two goals and Jakob Chychrun assisted on the game-winning goal. Keller (2-1-3) averaged a point-per-game against the Blackhawks in 2019-20 and has registered eight points (5-3-8) in nine career games against the club.
Keller recorded an assist in Wednesday's game against the Wild to give him points in back-to-back games for the first time this season. The winger's next point will be the 200th of his career (71-128-199). Since the start of 1996-97, 10 players have compiled 200-plus points in a Coyotes uniform.
Shayne Gostisbehere earned his 50th career multi-point game, as well as his second consecutive multi-point game, by notching a goal and an assist vs. Minnesota (Nov. 10). He's found the scoresheet in three consecutive appearances, and has totaled six points (2-4-6) in that span.
Since the franchise relocated to the Valley in 1996-97, Gostisbehere (2-9-11 in 13 GP) is the third Coyote defenseman to record nine-plus assists in the club's first 13 games of a season and just the second to record 11-plus points.
Entering Friday, Gostisbehere ranks in the top ten in both assists (T-6th) and points (T-8th) among NHL defensemen.
The Coyotes franchise is 61-67-15-7 all-time against the Blackhawks, but are 3-0-1 in the last four matchups.
A LOOK AT THE BLACKHAWKS
Chicago (3-9-1, 8 pts) has won each of its first two games under interim Head Coach Derek King. Former Hart Trophy winner Patrick Kane leads the team with 13 points (5-8-13) and enters Friday tied for ninth in the NHL with 1.30 points per game. Defenseman Seth Jones has also reached double-digit points (1-11-12) and shares the league lead in assists among blueliners. Friday is Chicago's second home matchup with a Central Division opponent this season.
MILESTONES TO WATCH
Jakob Chychrun: One goal from tying the Coyotes/Jets ninth-most career goals by defensemen.
Shayne Gostisbehere: Two assists away from 170 career assists.
Phil Kessel: Three power-play assists from 200 career NHL power-play assists.
Phil Kessel: One game from tying the NHL's third-longest consecutive games played streak.
Clayton Keller: Two assists from 130 career NHL assists.
Clayton Keller: One point from 200 career NHL points.
KEY CONNECTIONS
Ex-Coyotes
• Jimmy Waite (1997-99)
• Connor Murphy (2013-17)
• Dylan Strome (2016-19)
Ex-Blackhawks
• Andrew Ladd (2007-10, 2015-16)
Jay Beagle (2018-21), Loui Eriksson (2017-21) and Antoine Roussel (2018-21) were teammates of Adam Gaudette in Vancouver.
Travis Boyd was teammates with Jake McCabe and Connor Murphy at the USNTDP from 2009-11.
Phil Kessel won the Stanley Cup both seasons he played with Marc-Andre Fleury in Pittsburgh (2015-17)…Represented Team USA with Patrick Kane at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
Shayne Gostisbehere played with Erik Gustafsson in Philadelphia for part of the 2020-21 season.
Johan Larsson played with Jake McCabe in Buffalo from 2013-20.
Anton Stralman teammates with Riley Stillman (2019-21) and Henrik Borgstrom (2019-20) in Florida…Played with Tyler Johnson in Tampa Bay from 2014-19.
