GLENDALE
http://www.officialdevils.com/authentic-adidas-miles-wood-je rsey ,
Ariz. ¡ª The Arizona Coyotes were coming off lopsided home-ice losses to Calgary
(6-1) and Colorado (5-1) when general manager John Chayka, unable to wait any
longer for more offense, went out and traded for forward Nick Schmaltz.One game
later, with the Coyotes down 3-1 to the Minnesota Wild going into the third
period on the road, goaltender Antti Raanta left with a lower-body injury. With
backup Darcy Kuemper already injured, coach Rick Tocchet was forced to insert
the team¡¯s AHL goalie, Adin Hill.Remarkably, the Coyotes ¡ª on the verge of
playing themselves out of contention only 10 days ago ¡ª haven¡¯t lost
since.Article continues below ...Arizona will take a four-game winning streak,
some momentum and some growing confidence into its Thursday night game against
the Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals, who, only a few days ago, had all
of the above and more.But the Capitals have lost their last two following a
seven-game winning streak and, in a 5-3 loss at the Vegas Golden Knights on
Tuesday, may have lost top-line right wing Tom Wilson for a while with a head
injury. Wilson, arguably the NHL¡¯s most notorious hitter, was leveled by a
blindside hit from Vegas forward Ryan Reaves so hard that it knocked Wilson¡¯s
helmet off.The Capitals (15-9-3) didn¡¯t practice Thursday in advance of the
second game of a three-game road trip, a day off that gave them time to think
about all they didn¡¯t like about the loss in Las Vegas. Namely, losing Wilson
and allowing two goals by former Washington defenseman Nate Schmidt in the final
two minutes of the game.¡°Reaves targeted him (Wilson) the entire game,¡± Capitals
coach Todd Rierden said. ¡°You could hear it on every faceoff, you could hear the
things that were being said. And it¡¯s a blindside hit where an unsuspecting
player hits his head on the ice. So that¡¯s disappointing. You can put two and
two
together
Nico
Hischier Jersey , but he targeted him the entire game.¡±Washington already
is without forward T.J. Oshie, who sustained the fifth concussion of his career
against the Winnipeg Jets three weeks ago.Hill, one of the NHL¡¯s unlikeliest
success stories this season, will make his fourth consecutive start on Thursday
at Gila River Arena. He is 2-0 with an 0.56 goals-against average following the
Coyotes¡¯ 2-1 win at the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday, when more than a handful
of his 25 saves were difficult ones.The Coyotes¡¯ special teams produced both
goals. Schmaltz scored his fourth of the season on the power play and forward
Lawson Crouse scored the team¡¯s league-leading 11th short-handed goal.But it¡¯s
Hill that¡¯s been truly special. And coach Rick Tocchet isn¡¯t about to sit down a
goaltender who has made 85 saves on 87 shots.¡°He¡¯s unflappable right now,¡±
Tocchet said. ¡°He¡¯s feeling it, and it¡¯s a nice story. ¡ He¡¯s come in and he¡¯s
put the plug in for us and he¡¯s holding the fort. We¡¯ll just keep going from
there.¡±The Coyotes thought Raanta might be ready by now, but he didn¡¯t practice
Wednesday and Tocchet said Hill would start again.¡°It¡¯s nice to know the staff
here in Arizona has confidence in me, and I want to give them no reason not to,¡±
Hill said.Schmaltz, acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks, has given the Coyotes¡¯
top line a much different look since Tocchet put him at center between Alex
Galchenyuk and Clayton Keller before a 3-0 win at Nashville on Nov. 29. In the
three games since, Keller and Schmaltz have two goals and three assists apiece
and Galchenyuk has an assist.¡°They¡¯ve got some chemistry going,¡± Tocchet said.
¡°And they¡¯re going to get better. There¡¯s another level between those guys.¡±The
Capitals and Coyotes split their two games last season, with each winning in
overtime on their home ice. The Coyotes (13-11-2) already have won 13 games;
they didn¡¯t win their 13th game last season until Feb. 8. LAS VEGAS (AP) ¡ª
Malcolm Subban has been nearly unbeatable at home in two seasons with the Vegas
Golden Knights.With starter Marc-Andre Fleury listed as day-to-day with a lower
body injury, the Golden Knights should be just fine with two of their next three
games in Vegas.Jonathan Marchessault scored two goals, Subban stopped 16 shots
to improve to 12-1-0 all-time at T-Mobile Arena and the Golden Knights beat the
Edmonton Oilers 6-3 Sunday night.Subban, who improved to 5-8-0 this season, also
has a .917 save percentage and 2.32 goals-against average in his career at
home.¡°The boys played great, I don¡¯t think I had more than 20
shots
Dan
Hamhuis Jersey Womens , not too much work and obviously we were relentless
around their net and got some goals,¡± Subban said. ¡°We knew they were on a
back-to-back so the more we make them play in their zone the tougher it¡¯s gonna
be mentally on them.¡±Mark Stone, Cody Eakin, Brayden McNabb and Alex Tuch also
scored as Vegas improved to 8-1-0 in nine games since acquiring Stone from
Ottawa at the NHL trade deadline.Stone got the home crowd rocking early when he
picked up his first goal at home since joining the Golden Knights when he buried
a one-timer to extend his career-high season to 69 points 5:40 into the game.¡°I
was excited; to get off to such a good start, too, kind of set them back a
little bit, which is kind of what we stressed going into the game to begin
with,¡± Stone said. ¡°But to get that goal right away was a good feeling for
sure.¡±Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Leon Draisaitl and Kris Russell scored for Edmonton,
while Connor McDavid had two assists. Mikko Koskinen made 28 saves.Vegas, third
in the Pacific Division, increased its lead over Arizona to seven points. The
Oilers remained seven points behind the Coyotes for the second wild card in the
Western Conference.After splitting the first two meetings in Edmonton, Vegas
took a 2-1 lead in the season series, while improving to 3-3-1 all-time against
the Oilers.¡°I thought the way we come out in the first period, all kinds of
scoring chances, moved the puck well, and we didn¡¯t give up a whole lot
defensively,¡± Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. ¡°I loved the way we played, we
played an excellent game tonight, we played
fast
Youth
Pavel Zacha Jersey , we played our game.¡±Marchessault¡¯s back-to-back goals
early in the second and early in the third gave Vegas the lead for good at 4-2
as he beat Koskinen glove side both times.¡°We have a lot of good players in the
lineup,¡± Marchessault said. ¡°They gotta respect our lineup top to bottom. We
take a lot of pride of having four lines that can produce and play well
defensively too. It makes it extra hard on the opponent now¡±Russell¡¯s blast from
the point pulled Edmonton within one at 5:52, but McNabb pushed the lead back to
two at 9:45 when he punched home a loose puck that squirted loose to the left of
Koskinen.Edmonton coach Ken Hitchcock challenged for goaltender interference,
but after review, officials allowed the goal.¡°I thought we were gonna get that
call but that goal hurt us quite a bit,¡± Hitchcock said. ¡°But I thought in the
third period they skated us into the ground a little bit and took advantage. We
looked tired in the third period and they amped it up to another level.¡±Tuch¡¯s
goal with 3:28 left in the game provided the final margin.After Stone gave Vegas
the early lead, Nugent-Hopkins tied it from the high slot, where he drilled
Connor McDavid¡¯s feed on the power play with 6:46 left in the first. McDavid now
has points in 31 of his last 34 games, posting 55 points (17 goals, 38
assists).Eakin put Vegas back ahead with 55 seconds left in the opening period
with his 18th as he streaked into the zone while gathering Tomas Nosek¡¯s
cross-ice feed, and beat Koskinen top shelf on the glove side.McDavid registered
his NHL-best eighth consecutive multi-point game when he collected a rebound
from a face-off win and fed Draisaitl, who was waiting on the doorstep tie it
again with 43rd just 22 seconds into the second.Marchessault put Vegas ahead
less than two minutes later.NOTES: Golden Knights D Jon Merrill is one game shy
of playing in the 300th of his career. ¡ McDavid¡¯s 33 multiple point games this
season rank him second in the NHL. He is the first player to record multiple
points in eight-plus consecutive games since Vincent Lecavalier did it in 2007.
¡ With his assists on Marchessault¡¯s goals, Smith now has at least one point in
13 of his last 17 games. ¡ Vegas D Shea Theodore has points in six of the last
eight games (one goal, six assists). ¡ McDavid has points in 31 of his last 34
games, posting 55 points (17 goals, 38 assists). ¡ Draisaitl leads the Oilers in
scoring against Vegas this season, with four points (2 goals, 2 assists) in
three games.UP NEXTOilers: At St. Louis on Tuesday night.Golden Knights: At San
Jose on Monday night.