Coyotes at Oilers preview
Draisaitl looking to extend goal streak to six straight for Edmonton; Arizona going for eighth win in 10 games
by Derek Van Diest / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
COYOTES (8-4-1) at OILERS (10-4-1)
9 p.m. ET; ESPN+, SNW, FS-A PLUS, NHL.TV
The Game
Leon Draisaitl will try to extend his goal-scoring streak to six straight games for the Edmonton Oilers against the Arizona Coyotes at Rogers Place on Monday.
Draisaitl has seven goals during his streak, which is tied with Brayden Schenn of the St. Louis Blues, David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins and Derick Brassard of the New York Islanders for the longest in the NHL this season. He also has 10 points (seven goals, three assists) during a five-game point streak.
It will be the first game for Oilers coach Dave Tippett against the Coyotes, who he coached for eight seasons (2009-10 to 2016-17).
Arizona is 7-2-0 in its past nine games and plays the first of a back-to-back Monday. The Coyotes play at the Calgary Flames on Tuesday.
Players to watch
Coyotes forward Phil Kessel has five points (one goal, four assists) in his past five games.
Oilers forward Connor McDavid has six points (one goal, five assists) in his past five games.
They said it
"He's the best. He's such a good guy and he's a fun guy to be around and listen to. He's played over 1,000 games so any kind of knowledge you can get from him is good. He's good guy to have around and we're lucky to have him." - Coyotes forward Conor Garland on Phil Kessel
"Our goalies have been huge all season. They've been great and probably kept us in some games we shouldn't have been in. It's very comforting and it's nice to have them back there, they've been really good for us." -- Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl
Coyotes projected lineup
Barrett Hayton -- Christian Dvorak -- Phil Kessel
Michael Grabner -- Derek Stepan -- Vinnie Hinostroza
Clayton Keller -- Nick Schmaltz -- Conor Garland
Lawson Crouse -- Carl Soderberg -- Christian Fischer
Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- Jason Demers
Jakob Chychrun -- Alex Goligoski
Aaron Ness -- Jordan Oesterle
Darcy Kuemper
Antti Raanta
Scratched: Michael Chaput, Ilya Lyubushkin
Injured: Niklas Hjalmarsson (lower body), Brad Richardson (upper body)
Oilers projected lineup
Leon Draisaitl -- Connor McDavid -- Alex Chiasson
James Neal -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Zack Kassian
Jujhar Khaira -- Markus Granlund -- Sam Gagner
Gaetan Haas -- Colby Cave -- Patrick Russell
Oscar Klefbom -- Joel Persson
Darnell Nurse -- Ethan Bear
Kris Russell -- Matt Benning
Mikko Koskinen
Mike Smith
Scratched: Brandon Manning, Tomas Jurco, Riley Sheahan
Injured: Adam Larsson (leg), Joakim Nygard (ribs), Josh Archibald (foot)
Status report
Kuemper made 33 saves for his first shutout of the season in a 3-0 win against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. … Cave will play his second straight game after scoring his first goal of the season in a 2-1 overtime win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.
Stat pack
Goligoski has three assists in his past three games. … Koskinen is 2-0-1 with a 1.64 goals-against average and .947 save percentage in three games against the Coyotes.