Stars at Coyotes preview
Dallas seeks point in seventh straight game; Arizona looks to end losing streak
by Alan Robinson / NHL.com Correspondent
STARS (28-21-5) at COYOTES (23-26-5)
4 p.m. ET; FS-A, FS-SW, NHL.TV
The Game
The Dallas Stars will try to extend their point streak to seven games, and the Arizona Coyotes will look to stop a season-long five-game losing streak when they play at Gila River Arena on Saturday.
The Stars, 5-0-1 in the past six games, and Coyotes, 0-4-1 in the past five, play for the second time in six days. The Stars won 5-4 at American Airlines Center on Monday and are 2-0-0 against the Coyotes this season and 9-0-0 since March 24, 2016.
Dallas' five-game winning streak ended with a 3-2 overtime loss at the Nashville Predators on Thursday. Anton Khudobin, who made 21 saves, will start Saturday in place of No. 1 goalie Ben Bishop, who has an undisclosed injury.
Arizona's losing streak is its longest since seven straight (0-6-1) Dec. 3-19, 2017.
Players to watch
Stars forward Tyler Seguin scored the decisive goal in the third period against Arizona on Monday. He has six points (four goals, two assists) during a four-game point streak.
Coyotes forward Conor Garland has three goals in his past five games, nine goals in his past 14, and 11 goals in 20 games since scoring his first NHL goal Dec. 22.
They said it
"We've become a tougher team mentally and it shows. Physically, I think we can impose our will, and I think we've done that a lot in this last little while." -- Stars coach Jim Montgomery
"A lot of teams in the [Western Conference] are fighting for a (Stanley Cup) Playoff spot, so there's a lot of teams playing with some urgency, and we're one of them. We need to get some wins here." -- Coyotes forward Conor Garland
Stars projected lineup
Mattias Janmark -- Tyler Seguin -- Alexander Radulov
Jamie Benn -- Radek Faksa -- Blake Comeau
Andrew Cogliano -- Jason Dickinson -- Jason Spezza
Denis Gurianov -- Roope Hintz -- Brett Ritchie
Esa Lindell -- John Klingberg
Miro Heiskanen -- Roman Polak
Jamie Oleksiak -- Taylor Fedun
Anton Khudobin
Scratched: Julius Honka, Connor Carrick, Valeri Nichushkin
Injured: Ben Bishop (undisclosed), Stephen Johns (upper body), Marc Methot (lower body), Martin Hanzal (back), Tyler Pitlick (upper body)
Coyotes projected lineup
Richard Panik -- Derek Stepan -- Vinnie Hinostroza
Clayton Keller -- Nick Cousins -- Christian Fischer
Alex Galchenyuk -- Jordan Weal -- Conor Garland
Lawson Crouse -- Mario Kempe -- Josh Archibald
Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- Niklas Hjalmarsson
Jakob Chychrun -- Alex Goligoski
Kevin Connauton -- Jordan Oesterle
Darcy Kuemper
Calvin Pickard
Scratched: Michael Bunting, Ilya Lyubushkin
Injured: Kyle Capobianco (lower body), Jason Demers (lower body), Nick Schmaltz (lower body), Christian Dvorak (upper body), Michael Grabner (upper body), Brad Richardson (upper body), Antti Raanta (lower body)
Status report
Bishop is on the injured reserve list but practiced Friday and could return against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday. … Capobianco will miss the rest of the season. He was injured Thursday during his third NHL game. … Chychrun (lower body) missed the past four games and will be a game-time decision. … Grabner went through a full practice Friday for the first time since being injured Dec. 1.
Stat pack
Dallas has allowed two goals or fewer in eight of its past 11 games. … Benn has one goal in his past nine games. … Radulov has gone 11 games without a goal. … Faksa has three points (one goal, two assists) in his past three games. … The Coyotes are 0-for-15 on the power play in their past four games. … Hinostroza has five goals in his past seven games.