Back on the road, the Arizona Coyotes (3-2) head to California as they battle the Los Angeles Kings (2-2-1) inside Crypto.com Arena at 7:30 p.m.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!On a two game winning streak, the ‘Yotes are SoCal-bound after beating the Kings’ nearby rivals in the Anaheim Ducks, 2-1 at Mullett Arena on Oct. 21.
In contrast, L.A. are coming off of a 4-2 defeat to the Boston Bruins this past Saturday.
However, the Kings demolished the Minnesota Wild 7-3 on Oct. 19 and their offense has been elite as of late.
During the preseason, both Arizona and L.A. split a two-game series 1-1 in the NHL Global Series in Australia on Sept. 22-23.
Here is all you need to know before the Coyotes and Los Angeles clash in Hollywood:
Pregame Notes
A familiar face to the Kings organization, ‘Yotes defenseman Sean Durzi, will make his first appearance in L.A. since being traded in the offseason.
Before coming to the valley, Durzi spent the past two seasons with the Kings as he scored 12 goals and assisted 53 times in 136 games.
Now, Durzi has been the main focal point of Arizona’s defense as he has 2 goals and 2 assists in 5 games.
Going from the second or third defensive pair in L.A. to the first duo for the Coyotes, Durzi has averaged 23 minutes of time-on-ice.
The “Yotes will be without forward Jason Zucker who is dealing with a lower body injury.
Center Travis Boyd could feature tonight in Zucker’s place after being scratched since the game against the New York Rangers on Oct. 16.
On AZ, Boyd had 15 goals and 19 assists for 34 points in all 82 games for the ‘Yotes last year.
Moreover, Coyotes winger Michael Carcone may not play tonight as well as he was in a non-contact jersey yesterday at practice.
In the game against Anaheim, Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas laid a huge hit on Carcone at the end of the first period.
Struggling, Carcone needed assistance to get up after falling and didn’t return to the contest.
As a precaution, the Coyotes called up forwards Zach Sanford and Jan JenÃk from the Tucson Roadrunners (AHL).
Leading Arizona, forwards Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz lead the team in points with 6 in 5 games.
Assisting 7 times, Kings winger Kevin Fiala leads L.A. in points this season.
As the captain, center Anze Kopitar led all Kings with 74 points in 82 contests last campaign.
For the goalie matchup, it is expected that Arizona will start Connor Ingram while Los Angeles will look to Pheonix Copley.
Matchup History
As a franchise, the Coyotes are 121-90-25-11 all-time against L.A.
In 2022-23, Arizona was 1-1-1 versus the Kings.
On Dec. 1, 2022, Kopitar had two goals in a 5-3 victory in Los Angeles.
The other two matchups last season were both decided by a shootout.
At Mullett Arena, the “Desert Dogs” defeated L.A. in a close game, 2-1 on Dec. 23, 2022.
Finishing the three-game series, Los Angeles were up 5-2 early into the contest before a 3-goal third period by the ‘Yotes tied it up.
However, the Kings claimed a 6-5 victory in the shootout on Feb. 18.
A month ago, the Coyotes won the first preseason game in Australia 5-3 on Sept. 22 before the Kings took the second contest 3-2 on Sept. 23.
Both teams will play each other once again on Oct. 27 inside Mullett Arena in Tempe at 7 p.m.
Coyotes No. 11 in TSN’s 1st NHL Power Rankings of the season
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Alec Cipollini is a journalist covering the Arizona Coyotes, Cardinals and Phoenix Rising for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account @AlecCipollini
