Preview: Coyotes at Penguins

GAME 15:
Coyotes (7-6-1) at Penguins (6-5-3)
Arizona will continue a four-game trip by playing the first of back-to-back games vs. Pittsburgh and Washington this weekend on Saturday night in Pittsburgh.

WHERE: PPG Paints Arena | WHEN: 5 p.m. (AZ time) | TV:FOX Sports Arizona Plus| RADIO:KTAR News 92.3 FM

ABOUT THE 'YOTES:
• Arizona, which has earned at least one point in six of its past seven games (5-1-1), will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak in games played at PPG Paints Arena. The Penguins outscored the Coyotes, 19-3, in those four games. Arizona last defeated the Penguins in Pittsburgh on March 25, 2014.
• The Coyotes rank first in the NHL in penalty-killing efficiency at 91.1 percent. Opponents have scored just four power-play goals vs. Arizona, which also leads the League with nine short-handed goals.
RELATED CONTENT:
PK Unit Scoring Goals, Turning Heads
• Backup Darcy Kuemper will again start in goal in place of Antti Raanta, who is nursing a lower-body injury. Kuemper is 0-1-0 with a 3.04 goals-against average and a .857 save percentage vs. Pittsburgh. Hunter Miska, whom Arizona recalled from the American Hockey League on Wednesday, will serve as Kuemper's backup.

• Clayton Keller will enter tonight's game, his 100th in the NHL, riding a season-long six-game point streak (two goals, four assists) and with points in eight of his past nine games. Keller needs one goal to pass Brendan Perlini (28 goals) for the most goals scored by a player in his first 100 career games in Coyotes history.
• Michael Grabner, who has scored 12 of his 162 NHL goals vs. Pittsburgh, also has notched at least one point (four goals, four assists) in six consecutive games. Grabner and Brad Richardson are co-leading the NHL with three short-handed goals apiece.

• Ilya Lyubushkin will replace Alex Goligoski in the lineup as Goligoski recovers from a lower-body injury that limited him to just two shifts vs. Philadelphia on Thursday.
• Josh Archibald, who hasn't played in two weeks because of an upper-body injury, will be back in the lineup vs. Pittsburgh, the team that drafted him 174th overall in 2011. Archibald will replace Richard Panik, who will be a healthy scratch.

ABOUT THE PENGUINS:
• Pittsburgh, which hasn't won a game in two weeks, is looking to snap a five-game skid (0-4-1) in which it's been outscored 21-7... Evgeni Malkin, whom the NHL named its Second Star for October, is ranked tied for eighth in the NHL with 20 points (seven goals, 13 assists) and is averaging 1.43 points per game ... Phil Kessel is riding a nine-game point streak (six goals, seven assists) against the Coyotes ... Kris Letang plays 25:44 per game; only five other NHLers get more ice time ... Sidney Crosby has notched at least one point in nine of Pittsburgh's 14 games, but just one in the past four games ... Goalie Casey DeSmith, who has been subbing for a slumping Matt Murray lately, has posted a save percentage of .909 or better in four of his five starts this year ... The Penguins are 6-0-0 this season in games in which they've led after two periods.

'YOTES QUOTES:
• "They don't lose consecutive games very often. This is kind of foreign territory for them. Obviously, it's not going to last, I guarantee you that. They've got too great of an organization and team, so we're going to get a competitive and tough team. We have to be ready for it." -- Rick Tocchet
• "We all know that they're a special team. They've won (the Stanley Cup) here in the last couple of years twice. We've got to respect them, but at the same time it's not like we're going to give them more space just because of the names on the back of their jerseys. We've got to play a complete game and make sure we limit our penalties. As much as our penalty kill is scoring, that's not going to happen forever." -- Christian Fischer
• "They have tons of good players and I'm sure they're going to come out and play hard, so we've got to be ready and we've got to be at our best. It should be a good game. I'm looking forward to it." -- Darcy Kuemper