Tippett has enjoyed coaching Vrbata.
"He's been a good player for a long time," Tippett said. "You look at his career, it's an outstanding career. (He has) jumped around a little bit, but he's a player that when all is said and done is going to look back and he had a really good career here and other places."
Defenseman Luke Schenn, who is seeking his first goal of the season, has scored five of his 28 NHL goals vs. Ottawa.
Arizona will be looking to improve its power-play production. The Coyotes will enter the game ranked 27th in the NHL at 15.8 percent thanks to its current 3-for-34 slump.
The Coyotes will again play minus forward Alexander Burmistrov and defenseman Kevin Connauton. Both are nursing upper-body injuries.
Ottawa (37-22-6) has won four games in a row to climb to within four points of first-place Montreal in the Atlantic Division standings.
The Senators beat Dallas, 5-2, on Wednesday night to start a three-game trip. Ottawa has won 18 road games this season, the second-highest total by an Eastern Conference team behind only the New York Rangers (24).
Goalie Craig Anderson made 35 saves vs. the Stars, but he'll likely watch teammate Mike Condon face the Coyotes in the back-to-back scenario. Condon has played just twice since Feb. 19 and he lost both games.
Defenseman Erik Karlsson leads the Sens with 58 points and 47 assists. Forwards Kyle Turris and Mark Stone are Ottawa's top goal scorers with 22 each. Turris didn't play Wednesday because of a broken finger and is not expected to play against the Coyotes, who drafted him third overall in 2007.
Forward Alexandre Burrows has produced three goals and one assist in four games since coming to Ottawa via a trade with Vancouver just before the NHL trade deadline last week.
Forward Christopher DiDomenico will make his NHL debut, playing on the third line with Ryan Dzingel and Zack Smith.
