Coyotes at Hurricanes preview

COYOTES (25-17-4) at HURRICANES (25-16-2)
7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-A PLUS, FS-CR, NHL.TV

Raanta sustained a lower-body injury in a 6-2 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday and did not dress for Arizona's next two games.
Goalie Petr Mrazek will start for the Hurricanes, who play the sixth of a seven-game homestand. They are 3-2-0 after a 5-4 overtime win against the Flyers on Tuesday. Mrazek is 4-0-1 with a 2.15 goals-against average, .913 save percentage and one shutout in five games against the Coyotes.
Arizona, tied with the Vegas Golden Knights for first place in the Pacific Division, has 31 road points this season (14-7-3), second in the NHL to the Washington Capitals (35 points; 17-6-1).

Players to watch

Coyotes forward Derek Stepan has 27 points (nine goals, 18 assists) in 30 games against the Hurricanes.
Hurricanes forward Teuvo Teravainen has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in 12 games against the Coyotes.

They said it

"We put ourselves in a hole, and we had too many guys with their B-game. [Tampa Bay] is one of the best teams in the League. If you're not sharp and executing, they are going to make your night really difficult. Perfect time in the schedule to do it. We play (Friday) night and have a short memory." -- Coyotes forward Derek Stepan on a 4-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday
"There's definitely a different dynamic to that group. They always were a hard-working group. Now they have that skill level and it's really evident throughout their lineup, so now it's not keying on one line. Every group they throw out there can score on you." -- Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour

Coyotes projected lineup

Taylor Hall -- Christian Dvorak -- Conor Garland
Clayton Keller -- Carl Soderberg -- Nick Schmaltz
Lawson Crouse -- Derek Stepan -- Phil Kessel
Vinnie Hinostroza -- Brad Richardson -- Michael Grabner
Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- Jason Demers
Jakob Chychrun -- Alex Goligoski
Jordan Oesterle -- Ilya Lyubushkin

Antti Raanta
Adin Hill
Scratched:Kyle Capobianco, Barrett Hayton, Christian Fischer
Injured:Niklas Hjalmarsson (lower body), Darcy Kuemper (lower body)

Hurricanes projected lineup

Nino Niederreiter -- Sebastian Aho -- Teuvo Teravainen
Andrei Svechnikov -- Jordan Staal -- Warren Foegele
Ryan Dzingel -- Erik Haula -- Martin Necas
Brock McGinn -- Lucas Wallmark -- Jordan Martinook
Jaccob Slavin -- Dougie Hamilton
Jake Gardiner -- Brett Pesce
Trevor van Riemsdyk -- Joel Edmundson
Petr Mrazek
James Reimer
Scratched: Justin Williams, Haydn Fleury
Injured:None

Status report

Defenseman Hjalmarsson and rookie goalie Ivan Prosvetov, who has not made his NHL debut, were among five Coyotes players to take part in the morning skate. But with Raanta returning. Arizona sent the 20-year-old to Tucson of the American Hockey League before the game. ... Van Riemsdyk will replace Fleury after five games as a healthy scratch. … Williams, who signed with the Hurricanes on Wednesday, remained on the ice after Carolina's morning skate. The timetable for the forward's season debut has not been determined. ... Grabner returns to the lineup after missing the past five games, and will replace Fischer.

Stat pack

Arizona has outscored opponents 46-32 in the first period. ... Kessel has six points (one goal, five assists) in his past five games. … Necas has eight points (three goals, five assists) in his past eight games. … Slavin has seven assists in eight games against the Coyotes.