Coyotes at Oilers preview
Raanta could return for Arizona; Edmonton goes for sixth win in eight games
by Derek Van Diest / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
COYOTES (26-19-5) at OILERS (25-18-5)
3 p.m. ET; SN1, SNE, SNO, SNP, FS-A PLUS, NHL.TV
The Game
Goalie Antti Raanta could start for the Arizona Coyotes when they play the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Saturday.
Raanta will dress after missing the past three games with a lower-body injury.
Arizona is 1-3-1 in its past five after winning its previous four.
Forward Taylor Hall will play against Edmonton for the first time with Arizona. He was selected No. 1 by the Oilers in the 2010 NHL Draft and played his first six seasons in Edmonton. He has 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in 15 games with the Coyotes since being traded from the New Jersey Devils on Dec. 16.
Edmonton is in fifth place in the Pacific Division, two points behind Arizona, which is tied with the Calgary Flames for first.
The Oilers are 5-1-1 in their past seven games after going 2-7-1 in their previous 10.
Players to watch
Coyotes forward Christian Dvorak has three points (one goal, two assists) in a three-game point streak.
Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in a seven-game point streak.
They said it
"Alberta is a place where I spent a lot of years of my life, so it's always special to me and it's always a game that I look forward to and get to see some friends in town. It's always fun to come back here." -- Coyotes forward Taylor Hall on returning to Edmonton
"It is tight and it's going to be tight for the rest of the year. It's fun when it's tight and every point matters, especially here with the divisional games. It's going to be real crucial for us to be ready and try to get some points out of them." -- Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom on the race in the Pacific
Coyotes projected lineup
Taylor Hall -- Christian Dvorak -- Conor Garland
Lawson Crouse -- Derek Stepan -- Phil Kessel
Nick Schmaltz -- Carl Soderberg -- Clayton Keller
Michael Grabner -- Michael Chaput -- Vinnie Hinostroza
Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- Jason Demers
Jakob Chychrun -- Alex Goligoski
Ilya Lyubushkin -- Niklas Hjalmarsson
Antti Raanta
Adin Hill
Scratched: Christian Fischer, Jordan Oesterle, Kyle Capobianco
Injured: Darcy Kuemper (lower body), Barrett Hayton (shoulder), Brad Richardson (lower body)
Oilers projected lineup
James Neal -- Connor McDavid -- Josh Archibald
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Leon Draisaitl -- Kailer Yamamoto
Joakim Nygard -- Riley Sheahan -- Patrick Russell
Sam Gagner -- Gaetan Haas -- Alex Chiasson
Oscar Klefbom -- Ethan Bear
Darnell Nurse -- Adam Larsson
Kris Russell -- Caleb Jones
Mike Smith
Mikko Koskinen
Scratched: William Lagesson, Jujhar Khaira
Injured: Matt Benning (head)
Suspended: Zack Kassian
Status report
Arizona recalled Capobianco, a defenseman, from Tucson of the American Hockey League and assigned goalie Ivan Prosvetov there Friday. … Kassian, a forward, will serve the second of his two-game suspension for an altercation with Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk on Saturday.
Stat pack
Hall has six points (three goals, three assists) in a three-game point streak. … McDavid has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in a five-game point streak. … Nugent-Hopkins has 11 points (six goals, five assists) in his past seven games.