Dave Tippett goes for career win No. 500 as Coyotes host Flames
Coyotes coach Dave Tippett is one win away from 500 for his career and gets his first shot at the milestone on Friday night against the Calgary Flames at Gila River Arena.
The game can be seen on FOX Sports Arizona Plus, starting at 6:30 p.m.
Tippett has a 499-341-131 record in 971 games as a head coach over 13 seasons, and a 228-185-66 mark in seven years in Arizona.
The Coyotes (11-9-1) kicked off a busy stretch of three home games in four days with Wednesday's 4-2 win over the Ducks. Antoine Vermette scored his first goal of the season in the second period and added an empty-netter to help Arizona win its third in four home games.
"When you're younger, maybe you're more sensitive to those stretches, but you know if you keep putting in the work, eventually it's going to come," Vermette said.
Anthony Duclair extended his point streak to five games with his eighth goal, tying fellow rookie Max Domi for the team lead. Domi ranks second among all first-year players with 18 points.
"I'm feeling great and getting confidence from all the guys helping me out," Duclair said. "I'm happy with my game all around. I think I'm getting better that way."
Arizona captain Shane Doan sat out Wednesday due to a lower-body injury and is day to day.
The Coyotes lost all five games to Calgary last season, but the Flames have struggled mightily this year, especially away from home.
Only Edmonton (15) entered Thanksgiving with fewer points than Calgary (8-13-1), and a 3-8-1 road record is among the biggest reasons why the Flames have struggled to recapture last season's success.
The Flames had a two-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday in Anaheim, taking a 3-2 lead into the third period before giving up three goals to the Ducks.
"We've been like that on the road for quite a bit," said Michael Frolik, who scored twice. "We can't finish up the whole 60 minutes. We had a good start tonight, but we just need to find a way to win those kinds of games."
Calgary coach Bob Hartley switched up his lines at Thursday's practice. His top line featured Sean Monahan centering leading scorer Johnny Gaudreau and David Jones.
"Don't be surprised if you see those same lines tomorrow morning at morning skate," Hartley told the team's official website. "We're trying to create a balance. We could always go back to the lines that we had because I felt that we had pretty good chemistry but at the same time we want to get more offense."
Hartley did confirm that Karri Ramo will make his 12th consecutive start in net. Ramo is 2-6-0 with a 3.41 goals-against average on the road this season, but is 4-0-0 with a 1.25 GAA in four career starts against the Coyotes. He stopped 26 shots in a 3-0 victory at Arizona on Nov. 29, 2014, in his only appearance there.
