Pre-Game Capsule: Coyotes at Canucks

GAME 81:
Coyotes (29-40-11) at Canucks (30-40-10)
Arizona will play its final road game of the season on Thursday night when it faces Vancouver for the fourth time in 39 days.

WHERE: Rogers Arena
WHEN: 7 p.m. (AZ time)
TV: FOX Sports Arizona Plus
RADIO:Arizona Sports 98.7 FM

KEY FACTS:
• The Coyotes will enter tonight's game having won four of their past five games and seeking a third victory over the Canucks in less than a month.
• Darcy Kuemper will start in goal for the final time this season. Kuemper has posted a 2-6-1 record since coming to the Coyotes via a trade with Los Angeles in February. He has lost four consecutive games since stopping all 27 shots he faced in a 1-0 win vs. Vancouver on March 11. Kuemper already has faced Vancouver four times this season (once while with LA). His record in those games is 2-1-0 with a 1.40 goals-against average and a .943 save percentage.

• Max Domi has produced one goal and six assists during a three-game point streak. With two games left in the season, Domi needs two more assists to reach 100 for his three-year NHL career.
• Kevin Connauton has scored 10 goals since Feb. 1. Only Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman has matched Connauton's goal production during that time span among NHL defensemen.
• Richard Panik has tallied eight goals since coming to Arizona from Chicago via a trade on Jan. 10, including four in the past six games.

• Arizona ranks tied for second in the NHL with 50 goals scored by defensemen.
• The Coyotes will play minus defenseman Jakob Chychrun, who suffered a season-ending lower-body injury during the team's 4-1 victory over Calgary on Tuesday. Dakota Mermis, whom Arizona recalled from the American Hockey League on Wednesday, will take Chychrun's spot in the lineup. Mermis played seven games for the Coyotes earlier this season. Meanwhile, Christian Dvorak, who did not travel with the Coyotes on this two-game trip to Calgary and Vancouver because of a lower-body injury, will miss a third consecutive game.

• Like the Coyotes, Vancouver is finishing the season strong. The Canucks, who will not be heading to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, are 5-1-1 in their past seven games, and they've scored 25 goals during that stretch. Jacob Markstrom, who has set career-highs for games (59), wins (22) and shutouts (two) this season, is expected to start in goal. This game will be the final home game for Canucks forwards Daniel and Henrik Sedin, who announced this week they'd retire at the end of the season. Both of the Sedins have produced more than 1,000 points in their NHL careers, and they've combined to notch 103 points vs. the Coyotes in 67 games.
COYOTE BITES
• "I'm sad and also excited to be part of the last (home) game for them because they're two phenomenal people and amazing teammates. Just talking with them the last little bit, and texting, it makes me sad, honestly, because I learned so much from them ... It's such a cool story. Two guys, twins, that played together their whole lives on the same line. It's insane." -- Brad Richardson on Sedin twins

• "I want to end on a good note. I'm going to come in with a good focus and work hard, like I always do, and try to do what I can to help the team win ... They're pretty good once they get in the (offensive) zone. You just have to do a good job in the neutral zone and a good job on your breakouts and try to make them play defense." -- Darcy Kuemper on facing the Canucks in his last start of the season
• "Any time you get a chance to play in the NHL it's a huge honor and something you want to take advantage of ... It was nice to have been here in November so I've already had a taste of it. To get back to finish the year is pretty exciting." -- Dakota Mermis on starting his second NHL stint
• "You're trying to get off the ice when they step on the ice because they're so smart out there. They're trying to find each other, and whoever they play with, they make those players better. I've been fortunate enough to play with them a couple of times. It's a lot of fun to see how they prepare and how they treat everybody around them ... They mean a lot (to Sweden). They're so humble and they go under the radar a little bit, but at the same time I think everybody who played against them and with them have a lot of respect for them." -- Oliver Ekman-Larsson on the Sedin twins