Preview: Coyotes vs. Ducks

GAME 71:
Coyotes (35-30-5) vs. Ducks (28-34-9)
Arizona will conclude a five-game season series vs. Anaheim on Thursday night in Glendale.

WHERE:Gila River Arena | WHEN: 7 p.m. (AZ time) | TV:FOX Sports Arizona | RADIO:ESPN 620 AM

ABOUT THE 'YOTES:
• Arizona will enter the game with 75 points, one ahead of Minnesota for the second wildcard spot in the Western Conference standings, with 12 games to play. Minnesota hosts Dallas on Thursday.
• The Coyotes are 2-2-0 vs. Anaheim, the only team they'll play five times this season. The Ducks won the first two games played at Gila River Arena.
• Darcy Kuemper will make his 45th start in goal. He's won 12 games since Feb. 9, which leads the NHL, and his .938 save percentage since that date ranks second among goalies who've played at least eight games.
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• Richard Panik, who will skate in his 400th NHL game tonight, has notched a goal in two straight games and seven points (two goals, five assists) in his past seven games. Panik ranks second on the team with 21 goals since being acquired from Chicago on Jan. 10, 2018, trailing only Clayton Keller (22).

• Oliver Ekman-Larsson will enter the game as one of just four active defensemen who've scored 10 goals or more in each of the past six seasons. The others are Brent Burns, Mark Giordano and Roman Josi.
• Ilya Lyubushkin ranks second among NHL rookies with 140 hits and eighth with 59 blocked shots having played just 39 of the team's 70 games.

ABOUT THE DUCKS:
• Anaheim ranks 14th in the Western Conference standings with 65 points, but has won four of its past six games ... Jakob Silfverberg scored his team-leading 20th goal of the season on Tuesday vs. Nashville to extend his point streak to a career-high six games (four goals, four assists) ... Daniel Sprong has scored a goal in three consecutive games ... Ryan Getzlaf needs one assist to reach 30 for a 13th consecutive season ... Troy Terry was named the NHL's Third Star of the Week for the period ending March 10 after producing two goals and five assists and a +5 rating in four games ... John Gibson has won three of his past four starts and stopped 92 of 97 shots in those three victories.

'YOTES QUOTES:
• "We can't take anybody for granted. We're not that type of team. The Chicago game was a wake-up call ... Anaheim has been playing really well. That team's got a lot of pride. They don't give up. They've got some star power so it's going to be another tough game." -- Rick Tocchet
• "It's cool to see ourselves in that (playoff) position, but we just want to keep moving forward and worry about the next game and just worry about our team. If we do that we'll be fine ... This will be a huge game for us. We all know what's at stake so it's exciting and everyone is looking forward to it." -- Clayton Keller
• "Obviously we're not safe yet. We've got to win some more games so we're just going to continue what we've been doing here. I think special teams are going to be huge tonight, so if we stick to our system, and everybody plays hard and plays for each other, we'll be OK." -- Richard Panik