Pre-Game Capsule: Coyotes vs. Devils

GAME 29:
Coyotes (6-18-4) vs. Devils (15-6-4)
Arizona is taking a brief break from its hectic travel schedule to play a home game vs. New Jersey on Saturday night.

WHERE: Gila River Arena
WHEN: 6 p.m. (AZ time)
TV: FOX Sports Arizona
RADIO:ESPN 620 AM

KEY FACTS:
• Arizona is starting another back-to-back series of games with a home game vs. New Jersey. After the game, the team immediately will fly to Vegas for a game against the Golden Knights on Sunday at 5 p.m.
• The Coyotes are 26-9-3-0 at home vs. New Jersey through the years, including a 5-2-0-0 mark in games played in Glendale.
• Scott Wedgewood will make his fifth consecutive start in goal for the Coyotes. Wedgewood made a career-high 41 saves on Thursday in a 3-0 loss at Calgary. Arizona acquired Wedgewood from New Jersey via a trade on Oct. 28. He played four games for New Jersey, the team that drafted him 84th overall in 2010, in 2015-16.

• Oliver Ekman-Larsson has notched four goals and three assists in the past seven games and ranks second on the team with 18 points, just three behind leader Clayton Keller. Ekman-Larsson needs one goal to tie Dave Ellett for second place on the franchise's list for goals by a defenseman. Ellett scored 95 for the Winnipeg Jets. Teppo Numminen ranks first on that list with 108.
• Derek Stepan has scored 12 of his 131 NHL goals vs. New Jersey. That's 9.16 percent. Stepan ranks seventh in the NHL with 291 face-off wins.
• Luke Schenn is one of just three NHLers with at least 80 hits and 40 blocked shots this season, and is tied for the second-most hits in the NHL with 87.
• Brendan Perlini has played two games vs. New Jersey in his NHL career and he scored a goal in both games.
• Arizona ranks tied for third in the NHL with 660 hits, tied for third in face-off wins with 858 and fifth in blocked shots with 403.
• The Devils played at Colorado on Friday and beat the Avalanche, 2-1, to improve their road record to 9-2-2. No other NHL team has won more road games than New Jersey, which ranks fourth in the Eastern Conference with 34 points, two behind Conference-leading Tampa Bay. Taylor Hall leads the Devils with 27 points and 19 assists. Brian Gibbons is New Jersey's top goal scorer with 11. Rookies Nico Hischier and Will Butcher rank fifth and sixth in points among NHL freshmen with 18 points apiece. Jesper Bratt is right behind them with 17. Backup goalie Keith Kinkaid is likely to start vs. the Coyotes. He's 5-1-1- this season with a 3.04 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage. Defenseman Sami Vatanen skated a team-high 23:13 on Friday in his debut with New Jersey following a trade with Anaheim.

COYOTE BITES:
• "I'm sure it will be fun. It feels like it's already been a year that I've been here. But if you think about it, it was just under a month ago that I was part of that team. Obviously, when you get traded you want to adapt and accommodate to where you're at as quick as possible. I felt I've done that so this is home now. I know that roster, that management ... For me, it's another start, another game. It will be fun to play them. I'm sure there'll be a few warm-up conversations (with some Devils), and after that everyone's an enemy after the puck drops." -- Scott Wedgewood on facing former team
• "They work hard. They play four lines and they've got a really good power play. They're a structured team ... I liked most of our game (at New Jersey). They got those two power-play goals at the end and that killed us, but we were in control of the game. We played a good game. I think our team knew that if they didn't work hard we could get embarrassed, and I think that fear actually really helped us." -- Rick Tocchet on second game vs. New Jersey
• "I don't think we had the start that we wanted. Not too many high-quality chances. It's one of those we've just got to move on from. It wasn't horrible, but we need to be better ... (The Devils) have a lot of hard workers and depth throughout their lineup, and they keep coming in waves. For us, we can't fall asleep at all tonight. We have to play a real consistent 60-minute game." -- Alex Goligoski on rebounding from shutout loss at Calgary