Preview: Coyotes vs. Flames

GAME 67:
Coyotes (32-29-5) vs. Flames (41-19-7)
Arizona will attempt to earn two critical points when it hosts Calgary in the finale of a four-game season series on Thursday 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 69 points, three behind Minnesota for the second wildcard spot in the Western Conference standings, with 16 games to play.
• The Coyotes are 0-3-0 vs. Calgary this season, and were outscored, 18-4, in those three games.
• Darcy Kuemper, who has yet to face the Flames as a member of the Coyotes, will start in goal; Antti Raanta, Adin Hill and Calvin Pickard tended Arizona's net in the first three games vs. Calgary this season. Kuemper, who has won a career-high 20 games, is 2-1-1 vs. the Flames in his career.
• Michael Grabner will return to Arizona's lineup for the first time since suffering an eye injury vs. St. Louis on Dec. 1. Grabner, who notched six goals and five assists in 25 games before the injury, skated on a line with center Christian Dvorak and winger Clayton Keller at practice on Wednesday.
"He's worked hard," Head Coach Rick Tocchet said. "That's a tough injury to come back from. There's still some issues that he has to face going on for the future (so) we're not going to jeopardize his health or anything like that. But I think now is the time to get him in (a game). You can only practice so much ... We're excited. He adds a dimenison with his speed and his penalty killing. He's a guy that can stretch the ice."

• Josh Archibald has produced one point (five goals, three assists) in eight of his past 11 games. Among Coyotes who've played at least 50 games, Archibald ranks second in shooting percentage (13.3) with 10 goals on 75 shots.
• Jordan Oesterle, who is nursing a minor upper-body injury that kept him out of Tuesday's game, practiced Wednesday and is considered one of eight healthy defensemen available for Thursday's game.
• The Coyotes are 2-0-0 in games played vs. teams that played at Vegas the night before: They beat Vancouver, 4-1, and Tampa Bay, 7-1, back in October. Calgary lost at Vegas, 2-1, on Wednesday night.
ABOUT THE FLAMES:
• Calgary ranks first in the Western Conference with 89 points, but has lost three games in a row ... The Flames have won 21 road games; only Tampa Bay has won more (23) ... Calgary has scored 235 goals this season, fourth most in the NHL, but only five during the losing streak ... Johnny Gaudreau (30), Sean Monahan (30), Matthew Tkachuk (26), and Elias Lindholm (26) have combined to score 112 goals ... Mark Giordano ranks second among NHL defensemen in plus/minus (+31), third in points (62), and fourth in goals (14) ... Mike Smith is expected to start in goal. Against the Coyotes this season, Smith is 3-0-0 with a 1.33 goals-against average and a .951 save percentage.

'YOTES QUOTES:
•"This is a good bounce-back game to see where we're at. Calgary is a powerhouse type of team ... We played well against them at the start of the (first three) games. It seemed like we had a bunch of chances and we didn't score, and then we got antsy and all of a sudden it's boom, boom, boom, and it's 3-0. I think we're in a better frame of mind as a team now not to be as antsy, and to play our style of game, then we were a couple months ago." -- Rick Tocchet
• "It's been quite a while since we've beaten them. For whatever reason, we just haven't played well against them. The biggest thing is we know we haven't played 'Coyote Hockey' against them for a full game yet. It's going to be a good test for us. They're a good team. We have to respect them, but we can't fear them. We need these two points." -- Christian Fischer
• "We have to get off to a good start but, more importantly, we have to maintain a high level of play throughout the game. We can't fall apart for a stretch of five or six minutes against this team because we've done that and it's cost us. They have a lot of firepower, not only on the front end but on the back end, too. They can score at will so it's a matter of sticking tight defensively and not giving them any room to breathe." -- Jakob Chychrun