Sept. 27, 2022 | 5 pm MST | BOK Center, Tulsa, Okla.
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The Arizona Coyotes are off to Tulsa.
The team is set to face off with the Dallas Stars tonight at 5 pm MST in the first of back-to-back games for the Coyotes. The Stars opened their preseason slate yesterday at home, dropping a 4-0 contest to the St. Louis Blues, who Arizona faced just last week in Wichita, Kan.
The Coyotes are still searching for their first win of the preseason after a 3-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday in Tucson.
Head coach André Tourigny said he’s looking for tonight’s team to maintain its identity throughout the game.
“We want to be relentless, that’s the main priority for us,” Tourigny said. “From there, we’ll get better every day, work on our structure, and I think we have another gear in terms of our intensity.”
Arizona’s roster has been trimmed slightly, to 51 players, after forward Conor Geekie and goalie Anson Thornton were assigned to their junior clubs, the WHL’s Winnipeg ICE and OHL’s Barrie Colts, respectively.
Geekie was selected 11th overall by the Coyotes in July’s NHL draft, and recorded a goal and an assist in the 2022 Rookie Faceoff Tournament, as well as an assist in the NHL preseason. Thornton, who signed a three-year entry-level contract last October, stopped all six shots he faced against the Ducks on Sunday.
“I see guys who, they still need to work on their game in terms of consistency,” Tourigny said. “It’s not just consistency game-to-game, it’s shift-to-shift, play-to-play. There’s a pace they need to get to.
“They’re really talented, they’re good kids, they’re fun to work with, we’re excited about them, but like we always say, to make it to the NHL, it’s a marathon.”
Player to Watch: Forward Nick Schmaltz, who notched two assists in the Coyotes’ preseason opener against the St. Louis Blues. The 26-year-old forward posted a career-high 59 points in 63 games last season.
A LOOK AT THE STARS
The Stars are still searching for their first goal of the preseason after getting shut out by the Blues last night. Goalies Jake Oettinger and Anton Khudobin split time in net, with Oettinger stopping 13 of 15 shots he faced, while Khudobin stopped 11 of 13.
The Stars finished 46-30-6 last season, finishing fourth in the Central Division, and lost in seven games to the Calgary Flames in Round 1 of the Western Conference Playoffs. Earlier on Tuesday the Stars reduced their lineup by eightleaving 53 players remaining on their training camp roster.
The Coyotes were 2-2 against their Central Division rival last season, dropping the first two meetings before winning the last two.
Player to Watch: Although the final roster was not available at the time of publication, keep an eye between the pipes for a familiar face, as goalie Scott Wedgewood may get some time in net tonight after not playing in the team’s preseason opener. Wedgewood, a fan favorite in Arizona following two separate stints in The Valley, was 13-15-6 last season with a 3.14 goals-against average and .910 save percentage. He went 3-1-3 after getting traded to the Stars, and signed a two-year extension with them this summer.
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