Preview: Coyotes vs. Blackhawks

GAME 77:
Coyotes (36-33-7) vs. Blackhawks (33-32-10)
Arizona will attempt to snap a five-game winless streak (0-3-2) when it skates vs. Chicago on Tuesday night in Glendale.

WHERE:Gila River Arena | WHEN: 7 p.m. (AZ time) | TV:FOX Sports Arizona | RADIO:AZ Sports 98.7 FM

ABOUT THE 'YOTES:
• Arizona will enter the game with 79 points, two behind Colorado, which owns the second wildcard spot in the Western Conference standings. Both teams have six games left; the Avalanche are idle on Tuesday.
• Darcy Kuemper will make his 18th consecutive start after stopping 24 of 26 shots on Sunday afternoon in a 2-0 loss to the New York Islanders. Kuemper stopped 55 of 58 shots in back-to-back road games played over the weekend, but the Coyotes scored just one goal in the two defeats. He ranks second in the NHL in goals-against average (2.45) and save percentage (.921) among goalies who have played at least 50 games, trailing only Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy.
• Clayton Keller leads the team with 46 points. He's trying to become the first Coyotes player to produce back-to-back 50-point seasons since Shane Doan and Ray Whitney did it in 2010-11 and 2011-12. Keller has thrived vs. Chicago with three goals and two assists in five career games.
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• The Coyotes killed 21 of their opponents' 23 power plays over the past 10 games, and lead the NHL in penalty-killing success at 85.5 percent. Foes have scored just 16 power-play goals against Arizona in 38 home games this season.
• Brad Richardson, who co-leads the team with 17 goals, has been a face-off winning machine over the past six games, capturing 64 of 101 draws in those games. That's 63.7 percent. For the season, he's at 55.0 percent.
• Vinnie Hinostroza, whom Arizona acquired from Chicago last summer, has set career-highs for games (66), goals (15), assists (19), and points (34) this season, and is one of three Coyotes to tally a hat trick in 2018-19. The Blackhawks drafted the Chicago native 169th overall in 2012.

• The Coyotes are 8-1-1 in their past 10 home games and outscored opponents, 33-16, in those games. They will play four of their final six regular-season games on home ice.
ABOUT THE BLACKHAWKS:
Chicago is 6-2-1 in its past nine games and sits just three points behind the Coyotes in the Western Conference standings with seven games left ... The Blackhawks rank eighth in the NHL in goals (246), goals per game (3.28) and shooting percentage (10.1) ... Patrick Kane has produced 102 points, third most in the League. His 41 goals rank fifth in the NHL ... Brendan Perlini has scored eight goals since March 2 ... Brent Seabrook leads the team and ranks sixth in the League with 160 blocked shots ... Corey Crawford is expected to make his 10th consecutive start. He's 12-3-2 with a 2.64 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage vs. the Coyotes in 18 appearances.

'YOTES QUOTES:
• "The way we've defended, I like it. Offensively, there's a few things we have to tweak to score some goals ... Nobody is dictating the play, and that's something that we've worked on, we've talked about, and I think you're going to see a better effort when it comes to that tonight." -- Rick Tocchet
• "They have a really high-powered offense, with a lot of elite guys. If we turn the puck over and don't play to our system, we could get in trouble with them. This whole year, if you look at how we've won, it all starts with defending well and not letting up a lot of goals. Our goalies have been there for us, but, as a team, if we play smart hockey that's when we end up winning." -- Christian Fischer
• "We're in really similar positions. I know the guys (on Chicago's roster) and they're really pushing to be there at the end of the season and to make the playoffs. We're the same way, so we like our chances if we just play our game and play hard." -- Vinnie Hinostroza