Coyotes visit Kings, try for another four-game winning streak
The Arizona Coyotes aren't used to going a whole week without losing, especially twice in one season.
But the Coyotes will try to win four in a row for the second time this fall when they visit the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night.
Arizona (12-11-2) hasn't had two winning streaks of at least four games in the same season since 2011-12. The Coyotes had two five-game winning streaks and a six-game winning streak that season before losing to the Kings in the Western Conference Finals.
The Coyotes will need to extend their winning streak without right wing Michael Grabner, who was struck in the left eye with an opponent's stick during a 6-1 win against the visiting St. Louis Blues on Saturday night and is out indefinitely.
Grabner is tied for third on the team with six goals.
The Coyotes recalled forward Conor Garland from the Tucson Roadrunners of the American Hockey League.
The Kings (10-16-1) haven't won more than two games in a row this season, but they'll try to build off their 2-0 win against the visiting Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday night.
Jonathan Quick had 34 saves to become the third goalie for Los Angeles to record a shutout this season.
"We've kind of dug ourselves a little bit of a hole here and we need to win games," Quick said.
The Kings have won two in a row at Staples Center to improve to 6-8-1 at home. They haven't won three straight at home since the end of last season.
"We're going to have to get some victories as we go here," Kings coach Willie Desjardins said. "We hadn't been as good at home as we would've liked to have been."
Los Angeles has been scouring the waiver wire in recent days and they've claimed two wings they believe can help the lowest-scoring team in the league.
The Kings claimed Brendan Leipsic off waivers from the Vancouver Canucks on Monday. Leipsic, 24, has played 81 games in his NHL career with the Canucks, Vegas Golden Knights and Toronto Maple Leafs.
He made his NHL debut with the Maple Leafs in 2015-16 and became the first Toronto player to score in his NHL debut since Nikolay Kulemin in 2008. The Golden Knights selected him in the NHL Expansion Draft in 2017 and he played 44 games for Vegas before he was traded to the Canucks last February.
He had five points (two goals, three assists) in 17 games with the Canucks this season.
The Kings claimed Nikita Scherbak off waivers from the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday. Scherbak was a first-round draft pick of Montreal in 2014.
The Coyotes acquired center Nick Schmaltz from the Chicago Blackhawks on Nov. 25 in exchange for forwards Dylan Strome and Brendan Perlini.
Schmaltz has four points (one goal, three assists) in the past two games.
"He's a skilled guy, he's poised with the puck, his lateral movement's excellent," Arizona coach Rick Tocchet told reporters after the win against St. Louis. "I think the sky's the limit on him. There's another level to him. He's done a nice job for us. We're excited to have him."
