Coyotes at Sharks preview
Hall to debut for Arizona after trade with Devils; San Jose 1-5-1 in past seven games
by Ross McKeon / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
COYOTES (19-12-4) at SHARKS (16-17-2)
10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, FS-A PLUS, NHL.TV
The Game
Taylor Hall will make his debut with the Arizona Coyotes against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Tuesday.
Hall and forward Blake Speers were acquired in a trade with the New Jersey Devils for two conditional draft picks and three prospects Monday. He will play on the first line with center Christian Dvorak and right wing Phil Kessel.
The Sharks are 1-5-1 in their past seven games after going 11-2-0 in their previous 13. They defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 on Saturday to give Bob Boughner his first win since replacing Peter DeBoer as coach Dec. 11.
Players to watch
Coyotes forward Clayton Keller leads Arizona in scoring on the road with 13 points (five goals, eight assists).
Sharks center Joe Thornton is two assists from tying Adam Oates (1,079) for seventh in NHL history and 10 points from 1,500.
They said it
"He's great off the rush. He's a give-and-go guy, can play both sides of the flank on the power play. He's got the breakaway speed, so we'll find some spots for him." -- Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet on Taylor Hall
"Arizona's a team that's obviously picked up a pretty good player in the last 24 hours and has one of the best road records (11-4-3) in the NHL. They're a fast team. We're going to have to be ready. It's a big game for us." -- Sharks coach Bob Boughner
Coyotes projected lineup
Taylor Hall -- Christian Dvorak -- Phil Kessel
Clayton Keller -- Carl Soderberg -- Nick Schmaltz
Lawson Crouse -- Derek Stepan -- Vinnie Hinostroza
Michael Grabner -- Brad Richardson -- Conor Garland
Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- Ilya Lyubushkin
Jakob Chychrun -- Alex Goligoski
Aaron Ness -- Jordan Oesterle
Darcy Kuemper
Adin Hill
Scratched: Robbie Russo, Christian Fischer
Injured: Niklas Hjalmarsson (fractured fibula), Jason Demers (lower body), Antti Raanta (illness)
Sharks projected lineup
Evander Kane -- Logan Couture -- Timo Meier
Tomas Hertl -- Joe Thornton -- Kevin Labanc
Marcus Sorensen -- Barclay Goodrow -- Patrick Marleau
Noah Gregor -- Dylan Gambrell -- Melker Karlsson
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Erik Karlsson
Brenden Dillon -- Brent Burns
Mario Ferraro - Tim Heed
Aaron Dell
Martin Jones
Scratched: Antti Suomela
Injured: Dalton Prout (upper body), Radim Simek (knee)
Status report
The Coyotes held an optional skate. … With Raanta sick, Hill was recalled on an emergency basis. ... Suomela was activated after missing eight games with an undisclosed injury. … The Sharks reassigned forward Joachim Blichfeld to San Jose of the American Hockey League. … Simek will join a full practice later this week. He is possible for the weekend but will more likely be held out until after the Christmas break.
Stat pack
Arizona's 82 goals-against are tied with the Boston Bruins for the third-fewest in the NHL behind the New York Islanders (72) and Dallas Stars (80). … Marleau is seven points from 1,100 as a member of the Sharks.