Louis Domingue, who served as Mike Smith's backup vs. the Flames, is expected to start in goal as the Coyotes ease Smith back into the lineup after a month-long stay on the injured-reserve list. Domingue is 1-1-1 vs. Vancouver with a 2.36 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage in four games.
Forward Radim Vrbata will play against the Canucks for the first time since leaving them for Arizona in the off-season. Vrbata notched 44 goals and 46 assists in 142 games for Vancouver from 2014-16. He leads the Coyotes with six goals and co-leads with 11 points.
The Coyotes are 0-2-1 in their past three games and just 2-6-1 on the road this season.
"We're turning the puck over too much and bringing trouble on ourselves, not generating very much, and turnovers are making us play too much in our own end," Head Coach Dave Tippett said of the team's recent woes.
Defensemen Connor Murphy and Jakob Chychrun, who sat out Wednesday's game as healthy scratches, will be back in the lineup as Tippett rotates eight defensemen on the roster. Meanwhile, rookie center Dylan Strome will play his first game since Nov. 4. He's been a healthy scratch since that game.
Forward Tobias Rieder, who scored the team's lone goal on Wednesday, will not play vs. Vancouver because of a lower-body injury. He is considered day-to-day.
Vancouver (6-10-1) has lost 11 of its past 13 games, including a 7-2 defeat at home vs. the New York Rangers on Tuesday.
The Sedin twins, Daniel and Henrik, are co-leading the Canucks in points with 10 each. They both have five goals and five assists in 17 games.
Per the Canucks, Ryan Miller has the flu and will miss the game. That's good news for the Coyotes, whom Miller has dominated in his career with a 9-1-0 record, a 1.58 goals-against average and .948 save percentage. Look for Jacob Markstrom, who has earned four of Vancouver's six wins, between the pipes.
Head Coach Willie Desjardins said the Coyotes are a dangerous team.
"When you look at them, you see a real solid team," Desjardins told reporters. "You see a team that's hungry, that's looking for a win. You know that they're going to come at you but you've got to be patient. You know if you open up, they're going to capitalize on you. So we've got to have lots of energy and we've got to be hungry."
READ OFFICIAL GAME NOTES
BROADCAST INFO:
TV: FOX Sports Arizona
Radio: Arizona Sports 98.7 FM
COYOTES PROJECTED LINEUP VS. CANUCKS:
Forwards
Domi - Hanzal -Vrbata
Crouse - Martinook - White
Dauphin - Richardson - Doan
McGinn - Strome - Duclair
Defensemen
Ekman-Larsson - Murphy
Goligoski - DeAngelo
Chychrun - Stone
Goalies
Domingue
Smith
