Coyotes seek 5th straight win as Red Wings visit
With their winning streak now at a season-long four games, the Coyotes go for five on Thursday night against the Detroit Red Wings. If successful, it would match their longest streak since Oct. 26-Nov. 5, 2013.
The Coyotes (22-16-4), playing the third game in a seven-game homestand, are coming off a 4-3 overtime win over Edmonton -- rallying from a two-goal third-period deficit on the strength of Max Domi's first career hat trick and Oliver Ekman-Larsson's sixth game-winning goal of the season.
Ekman-Larsson's power-play game-winner came with 8.9 seconds left in overtime. The Coyotes were 3 for 4 with an extra skater against the Oilers and are 6 for 11 on the power play during the current win streak.
"We're a confident group right now. We're playing really well," forward Anthony Duclair said. "When we play as a team, we can beat anybody in this league. I think it's just a matter of believing in ourselves. We've got some great leadership in this locker room that's been doing a great job so far. We're just going to continue on like that."
The Coyotes are 10-2-2 in their last 14 home games and are looking to avenge a 5-1 drubbing to the Red Wings on Dec. 3.
Justin Abdelkader scored the first of Detroit's three goals in the opening period of that victory, and the Red Wings outshot the Coyotes 44-27. Detroit won 3-1 in its latest trip to Arizona on Feb. 7 after losing in three of the previous four visits.
The Red Wings (22-14-7) will be playing the sixth and final game on their longest road trip of the season. They won the first four before a subpar special-teams effort led to a 4-2 defeat in Los Angeles on Monday night. Detroit gave up a pair of power-play goals to the Kings and was 0 for 2 with a man advantage.
"We got to make sure we get more pucks to the net. We got to simplify a little bit," coach Jeff Blashill said. "It's hard to score in the league. We're not scoring enough goals overall, so we got to make sure we're getting more pucks to the net."
Detroit goaltender Petr Mrazek has won his last four starts with a 1.25 goals-against average. The Coyotes will likely counter with rookie Louis Domingue, who has a 1.47 GAA in four consecutive victories. Domingue, called up from the minors Dec. 11, is 7-0-2 as the starting goaltender.
"At the end of the day, I knew I could play here," Domingue told the team's official website. "I took a big step in my game, my confidence level. I practiced better and I'm trying to elevate that every day."
