Pickard stopped all 32 shots that he faced in Colorado’s shutout win over the Wild on Saturday. Pickard also stopped all three shots that he faced after replacing Semyon Varlamov in the Avs’ loss on Sunday. Pickard comes into Tuesday with a 3-0-0 record, 1.50 GAA and .946 SV% on the season and draws a strong matchup vs. the Coyotes.
Pickard allowed two goals on 26 shots in Colorado’s win in Arizona last Saturday. Semyon Varlamov has struggled in his last two outings, so Pickard will get the first game of the Avalanche back-to-back. Pickard has won his two starts while posting a 2.49 GAA and .912 SV%, but makes for a risky start vs. a hot Wild squad.
With Chris Tanev set to return to the lineup on Wednesday, the Canucks have sent Stecher back to Utica. Stecher had no points, seven shots and a minus-3 rating in three games with the Canucks.
Murray missed the last four games with an upper-body injury, but will return to the lineup tonight vs. Dallas. Murray will skate on the second pair with Jack Johnson, but has not recorded a point in two games this season. Dalton Prout will be a healthy scratch.
Koekkoek, 22, has picked up two assists in five games with Syracuse this season. The former No.10 overall pick (2012) has one assist in 12 career NHL games. With Koekkoek being called up, Matt Taormina has been returned to Syracuse.
Smith was on the ice for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury on October 18th. He was on the ice, but only skated without pads. Smith appears to be pretty far away from returning to the Coyotes’ crease, which means the Coyotes will continue with Louis Domingue and Justin Peters as their goaltending duo.
Murray has missed the last four games with an upper-body injury that he suffered 10 days ago vs. the Blackhawks. The oft-injured defenseman has already missed a total of five games with two different injuries to kick-off the 2016-17 NHL season. His return to practice on Monday, suggests that Murray could be back on Tuesday or later in the week.
Pickard allowed three goals on 31 shots in Colorado’s win over the Penguins on October 17th. With Semyon Varlamov starting last night, Pickard will make his second start of the season tonight in Arizona. Pickard makes for a solid spot-start against a Coyotes team that has lost five of their first seven despite averaging 3.14 goals per game.
Stecher, 22, was an undrafted college free agent, who has one assist in four games with Utica this season. Last year he had 29 points (8G / 21A) in 43 games at the University of North Dakota and tonight he will make his NHL debut on the top pair with Alex Edler as well as on the top power-play.
Smith will miss his third consecutive game tonight and is expected to miss a couple of weeks with a lower-body injury that he suffered on Tuesday. With Smith out, the Coyotes will continue to roll with Louis Domingue and Justin Peters in goal.
Murray missed last Saturday’s game vs. San Jose, but will return to the lineup tonight vs. Chicago. Murray will replace Dalton Prout in the lineup and skate on the top pair with Seth Jones. Murray was a minus-2 with two shots on goal in 19:52 in the Blue Jackets’ season opener.
Smith left Tuesday’s game with a lower-body injury, but is reportedly up and walking around and the Coyotes are just awaiting test results before they can determine how long he will be out. With Smith sidelined, Louis Domingue becomes the Coyotes’ starter and Justin Peters has been recalled from Tucson (AHL).
Smith suffered what appeared to be a left-leg injury in the third period of Tuesday’s loss in Ottawa. Smith was trying to scramble across the net to make a save before getting all tangled up in the cage. The severity of Smith’s injury has yet to be determined, but lengthy injuries are nothing new to the Yotes’ netminder. Expect an update within the next 24 hours.
Smith gave up three goals on 30 shots in the Coyotes’ overtime win over the Flyers in their season opener. It was a good start to the year for Smith, who is expected to start again tonight in Ottawa. Smith has a very young team in front of him so there will be rough nights, but tonight he faces a Senators team that is giving up 4.00 goals per game to start the season.
Smith gave up three goals on 30 shots in the Coyotes’ overtime win over the Flyers in their season opener. It was a good start to the year for Smith, who is expected to start again tonight in Ottawa. Smith has a very young team in front of him so there will be rough nights, but tonight he faces a Senators team that is giving up 4.00 goals per game to start the season.
Semyon Varlamov started Colorado’s season opener on Saturday, but they will turn to Pickard tonight in the first game of a back-to-back set. Pickard was 7-6-1 with a 2.56 GAA and .922 SV% in 13 starts and seven relief appearances last year. The 24-year-old will be a strong spot-start option throughout the season, but is a risky option tonight in Pittsburgh.
Kulak, 22, sat out of the first two games of the season, but will be in the lineup for Dennis Wideman on Saturday. Kulak had 17 points (3G / 14A) in 59 games with Stockton (AHL) a season ago. He has no points in nine career NHL games.
The Coyotes are one of the last teams to get their 2016-17 season underway, but it will start tonight vs. a Flyers team on the tail-end of a back-to-back. To no one’s surprise, Smith will start their season opener and he is hoping for a much healthy season this year. Smith was limited to 32 starts last year and went 15-13-2 with a 2.63 GAA and .916 SV%.
Kane was brought to hospital for precautionary reasons after crashing into the end boards last night. Further evaluation revealed that Kane cracked three ribs and he will be out for “weeks” according to head coach Dan Bylsma. This is a tough blow for the Sabres, who will already be without Jack Eichel for what appears to be 6-8 weeks.
