The Coyotes will look to avoid matching their longest winless streak since the franchise moved to Arizona when they visit the Ottawa Senators on Friday night.
Mired in a 14-game winless skid (0-12-2), the club would tie the then-Phoenix Coyotes stretch in 2003-04 should it fall in Canada’s capital city.
The original Winnipeg Jets have the longest winless streak in franchise history with a whopping 30-game stretch from Oct. 19-Dec. 20, 1980. The Jets moved to Phoenix before the 1996-97 season.
Former Maple Leafs forward Alex Kerfoot and Logan Cooley each scored a goal in Arizona’s 4-2 setback in Toronto on Thursday. Kerfoot has scored a goal in consecutive contests and is riding a four-game point streak (two goals, two assists).
Kerfoot and Cooley each notched an assist as the Coyotes overcame a three-goal deficit in a 4-3 victory over the Senators on Dec. 19. Karel Vejmelka stopped all 16 shots he faced in that game after replacing Connor Ingram, who yielded three goals on six shots.
After sitting out vs. Toronto, Vejmelka likely will get the nod on Friday when Arizona tries its luck vs. the other Ontario club.
Clayton Keller will sit out his third consecutive game on Friday due to an undisclosed injury, per Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny.
“Day to day but not (Friday),” Tourigny said of Keller, who has team-leading totals in goals (22) and points (52) and is tied for the lead in assists (30). “It’ll be a few days at least. Washington (on Sunday) is a stretch, so next week.”
The Senators will return home from a fruitless two-game road trip after dropping a 6-3 decision in Washington on Monday and 4-1 setback in Nashville on Tuesday. To add salt to the wound, Ottawa failed to record a shot on goal in the third period vs. the Predators.
Second-line center Josh Norris will be out “an extended time” due to an upper-body injury he sustained after being knocked into the net by Nashville’s Cole Smith, Ottawa interim coach Jacques Martin said Thursday.
While Martin opted against going into details, Norris appeared to re-injure his surgically repaired left shoulder. Given the Senators’ place in the standings — 15th in the Eastern Conference — with six weeks left in the season, it’s possible Norris’ campaign could be done.
“There’s not much you can do,” Martin said of Norris’ injury history. … “Those are things that you’ve got to take a positive attitude with, put the work in that’s required to do, do the rehab that you have to do, and then get back and working at it. It’s just unfortunate because I thought Josh was probably playing his best hockey of the season for us.”
Thomas Chabot exited Tuesday’s game late in the third period and joined Tim Stutzle in missing Thursday’s practice due to a maintenance day. Both players are expected to compete against the Coyotes on Friday, per Martin.
Fellow defenseman Travis Hamonic is deemed week-to-week with an undisclosed lower-body injury sustained in the third period vs. the Predators. He will be replaced in the lineup by the returning Artem Zub, who has missed the past three games due to an undisclosed ailment.
–Field Level Media
