Arizona @ Vancouver preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 10, 2019 ) Arizona 4, Vancouver 3

Few expected the Arizona Coyotes and Vancouver Canucks to be major players in the Western Conference playoff landscape but the winner of Thursday's clash in British Columbia could find themselves tied for the final wild-card spot. Arizona and Vancouver trail Chicago and Colorado by two points and are one behind slumping Minnesota, which plays the Rangers in New York on Thursday, in a crowded wild-card race that features six teams separated by four points

The Canucks, who haven't been to the playoffs since 2014-15, remain in contention despite going 2-5-1 in their last eight games. "We feel we've been playing some good hockey, and it's unfortunate we've come on the wrong side, but I think we've got to stay positive,'' Vancouver defenseman Ben Hutton told reporters after Saturday's 3-2 loss at San Jose. "I think we all believe that we can make this push ..." The Coyotes, who last appeared in the postseason in 2011-12, are 4-2-0 in their last six after Tuesday's 3-2 shootout victory in Edmonton. Arizona has won the first two of four meetings this season, including 4-3 in overtime Jan. 10 on Richard Panik's second goal of the game.

TV: 10 p.m. ET, FS Arizona, Sportsnet Pacific (Vancouver)

ABOUT THE COYOTES (27-28-5): Arizona has a hot goaltender on its hands in Darcy Kuemper (15-14-5, 2.66 goals-against average, .914 save percentage), who has won four of his last five starts with a shutout and .938 SP during that span. Josh Archibald has three of his eight goals this season (16 career) in his last five games after scoring Tuesday. Clayton Keller leads the team with 38 points but hasn't hit the scoresheet in the past five contests and seven of eight.

ABOUT THE CANUCKS (26-27-7): Calder Trophy favorite Elias Pettersson has seven goals and eight assists in his last 13 games and leads the club in goals (26), points (54) and plus-minus rating (plus-15). Brock Boeser has scored in two straight contests and boasts five of his 21 goals in nine February games. Bo Horvat (20 goals, 45 points, team-high 21 minutes of ice time among forwards) has only three goals in 18 contests since the calendar flipped to 2019.

OVERTIME

1. Panik (11 goals, 24 assists) has missed the last three games because of illness.

2. Vancouver is 1-for-17 on the power play in its last five games while killing 17-of-18 penalties during that span.

3. The Coyotes are 15-for-16 on the penalty kill in their past six contests, raising the league's top unit to 85.6 percent.

PREDICTION: Canucks 3, Coyotes 2