Oilers at Coyotes preview
Draisaitl trying to extend multipoint streak for Edmonton; Ekman-Larsson out for Arizona
by Alan Robinson / NHL.Com Independent Correspondent
OILERS (28-18-6) at COYOTES (26-21-7)
9 p.m. ET; ESPN+, SN1, FS-A, FS-A PLUS, NHL.TV
The Game
Leon Draisaitl can extend his streak of multipoint games to an NHL career high-tying six when the Edmonton Oilers play the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on Tuesday.
Draisaitl, who leads the NHL with 83 points (29 goals, 54 assists), has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in the past five games. He also has 22 points (seven goals, 15 assists) during an 11-game point streak. Draisaitl had a six-game multipoint streak from March 14-23, 2017.
The Oilers are 8-1-2 in their past 11 games, which corresponded with Draisaitl being moved from the wing on Connor McDavid's line to center between Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Kailer Yamamoto.
Arizona will be without defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson for a second consecutive game because of a lower-body injury. He tweaked the injury during practice Monday and is considered day to day.
The Coyotes are on a season-long five-game winless streak (0-3-2) and are 1-5-3 in their past nine games.
Players to watch
Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) in 11 games on a line with Draisaitl.
Coyotes forward Taylor Hall has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his past seven games.
They said it
"We've built some chemistry with our line and the puck's been going in for us, and that's always nice and makes it easier. We work well off each other and we compete hard. It's fun and hopefully we can keep it going." -- Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl
"The timely goals aren't there right now. When it's 1-1 and we can make it 2-1 and 3-1, we're having a tough time finding that. We need people to step up and make these plays in these moments." -- Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet
Oilers projected lineup
Josh Archibald -- Connor McDavid -- Zack Kassian
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Leon Draisaitl -- Kailer Yamamoto
Jujhar Khaira -- Riley Sheahan -- Patrick Russell
Sam Gagner -- Gaetan Haas -- Alex Chiasson
Darnell Nurse -- Ethan Bear
Oscar Klefbom -- Adam Larsson
Caleb Jones -- Matt Benning
Mike Smith
Mikko Koskinen
Scratched: Tyler Benson, William Lagesson
Injured: James Neal (foot), Joakim Nygard (hand), Kris Russell (concussion)
Coyotes projected lineup
Taylor Hall -- Christian Dvorak -- Conor Garland
Clayton Keller -- Derek Stepan -- Phil Kessel
Lawson Crouse -- Nick Schmaltz -- Vinnie Hinostroza
Carl Soderberg -- Brad Richardson -- Christian Fischer
Alex Goligoski -- Jakob Chychrun
Jason Demers -- Jordan Oesterle
Niklas Hjalmarsson -- Ilya Lyubushkin
Antti Raanta
Adin Hill
Scratched: Michael Grabner, Aaron Ness
Injured: Darcy Kuemper (lower body), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (lower body)
Status report
Kuemper is practicing but the goalie has not been cleared for a full practice. … The Coyotes assigned forward Barrett Hayton to Tucson of the American Hockey League for conditioning purposes. He last played Nov. 29.
Stat pack
Smith can become the eighth active goalie to play in 600 games. He played 312 games with the Coyotes from 2011-17. … McDavid has 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in his past nine games. … Arizona is 31-8-8 in its past 47 games against Edmonton.