Arizona @ San Jose preview
SAP Center at San Jose
Last Meeting ( Nov 30, 2019 ) San Jose 4, Arizona 2
Taylor Hall is expected to make his Arizona debut when the Coyotes visit the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night. Hall, who was kept out of the lineup by New Jersey on Friday at Colorado and Saturday at Arizona as a precaution before Monday's trade, joins a club that began the week in first place in the Pacific Division by one point and was in need of an offensive spark that they hope the 2018 Hart Trophy winner can provide.
"Taylor Hall is one of the elite talents in the game today; a Hart Trophy winner, a high-end playmaker and one of the NHL's most talented forwards," Arizona general manager John Chayka said in a statement. "We are beyond thrilled to add Taylor to our team as we continue in our mission of bringing a Stanley Cup home to Arizona." San Jose snapped a six-game losing streak, which spelled the end of coach Peter DeBoer’s tenure, with a 4-2 win over Vancouver on Saturday for new coach Bob Boughner's first victory in two contests. Captain Logan Couture recorded two goals as San Jose beat Arizona 4-2 on Nov. 30 in the first of four meetings between the Pacific Division rivals this season. The Coyotes entered Monday ranked 24th in the league in scoring (2.63) after dropping a 2-1 decision at home against struggling New Jersey on Saturday to drop to 4-4-1 over their past nine contests.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FS Arizona Plus, NBCS California (San Jose)
ABOUT THE COYOTES (19-12-4): Hall, who was acquired for three prospects, along with conditional first- and third-round picks, has six goals this season - four in his last 10 games - and becomes the team leader with 25 points. Arizona was third in the league in goals-against per game (2.34) entering Monday as goaltenders Darcy Kuemper (14-7-2, 1.97 goals-against average, .935 save percentage) and Antti Raanta (5-5-2, 2.72, .919) continue to shine. Clayton Keller boasts four points in the past four games to tie fellow forward Nick Schmaltz for the team lead with 23 while Christian Dvorak (three assists, four games) is third with 21.
ABOUT THE SHARKS (16-17-2): Boughner told reporters backup Aaron Dell (.898 SP) will get another start Tuesday after stopping 33 shots in Saturday’s victory, as Martin Jones (.888 SP) continues to work with goaltender coach Evgeny Nabokov. “He was our best player,” Boughner told reporters of Dell, who is 4-4-1 this season. “He made some key saves at key times and kept us in it when we were starting to take on water.” Couture leads the team with 32 points after scoring twice and setting up another in the last two games while defenseman Erik Karlsson has nine of his 25 points in the past 11 contests.
OVERTIME
1. Arizona F Vinnie Hinostroza recorded four assists in the past two games to push his season total to 14 points.
2. San Jose D Brent Burns has gone 11 games without a point and owns a minus-9 rating in that span.
3. The Coyotes have seven power-play goals in their last seven games and the Sharks lead the league in penalty killing (88 percent).
PREDICTION: Sharks 4, Coyotes 2