A preview of the Coyotes.
When and where: 7:30 p.m., Mellon Arena.
TV: FSN Pittsburgh, FSN Arizona, NHL Network (United States) and TSN.
Record: 1-0-0, 2 points. The Coyotes are in first place in the Pacific Division and third place in the Western Conference.
Leading Scorer: Radim Vrbata, two points (two goals, zero assists).
Last Game: 6-3 road win against the Kings Saturday. Radim Vrbata had... get this... two goals. Ilya Bryzgalov made 30 saves for Phoenix.
Last Game against the Penguins: 4-1 home win, Oct. 30, 2008. Miroslav Satan scored the Penguins' only goal.
Coyotes Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Shane Doan (above). He had two goals against the Penguins in last season's lone meeting.
Ex-Penguins on the Coyotes: Paul Bissonnette, LW; Robert Lang, C; Ulf Samuelsson, associate coach; Dave Tippett, head coach.
Ex-Coyotes on the Penguins: Brent Johnson, G; Mike Rupp, C.
Useless Coyotes Jets Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: The first overtime loss in the history of the Penguins occurred against the Winnipeg Jets. Lucien Deblois scored in overtime on goaltender Michel Dion in a 4-3 win at the Civic Arena, Oct. 12, 1983.
Best Coyotes Jets YouTube Video We Could Find: Go ahead find us a video of a crowd ever this enthusiastic for anything hockey-related in Phoenix:
-Marc-Andre Fleury (2-0-0, 2.41 GAA, .909 SV%) and Ilya Bryzgalov (1-0-0, 3.00 GAA, .909 SV%) are the expected starters in net.
-For the Penguins, forwards Mark Letetsu (knee), Maxime Talbot (shoulder) and defenseman Ben Lovejoy (shoulder) are on injured reserve.
-For the Coyotes, forward Taylor Pyatt ("lower-body") is on injured reserve.
-The Penguins will not wear their blue jerseys tonight as was incorrectly reported earlier. They will debut their dreaded blues Oct. 17 against the Lightning.
-"But yeah, it definitely would be nice to take the crowd out of it,
because playing there, it is insane . . . the acoustics in the
building, the way the roof is, it makes it even louder." - Paul Bissonnette on returning to Pittsburgh.
-Dave Tippett and Robert Lang (right) are also very familiar with the noise at Mellon Arena.
-"I thought it was a challenge, and I'm always up for a challenge." - Tippett on why he took on the Coyotes' coaching job.
-The Coyotes and the city of Glendale, Ariz are attempting their own "white-out" effort.
-Assuming they don't meet the Penguins in the Stanley Cup Final, this will be the final appearance in Mellon Arena for the Coyotes/Jets. They have a 10-21 record all-time in Mellon Arena.
-Television Heads-Up: Don't forget tonight's game is on NHL Network in the United States. If you are a Center Ice or Game Center Live customer or you are located outside of the Pittsburgh or Phoenix markets, please make sure you have NHL Network or make alternate plans to watch it.
-Cheap Tickets Heads-Up: Tonight is a Student Rush night. We'll let you borrow our old Point Park University College (Hey, we said it was old) ID if you buy us nachos.
-Our live blog begins at approximately 6:30 p.m. Please tune in.
(Photo: Elaine Thompson/Associated Press; Lang-Peter Diana/Post-Gazette)
Posted
Oct 07 2009, 02:51 AM
by
Seth Rorabaugh