Arizona Coyotes (17-25-6) at Ottawa Senators (19-19-9), 3 p.m. (ET)
(SportsNetwork.com) - The Arizona Coyotes hope to build off their first victory in weeks when they visit the Ottawa Senators for Saturday's matinee clash at Canadian Tire Centre.
The Coyotes entered Thursday's game in Toronto mired in an 0-5-2 slump, but they notched a 3-1 comeback victory for their first win since a 4-1 home triumph against Winnipeg on Jan. 8.
Arizona trailed the Maple Leafs 1-0 after two periods, but Oliver Ekman- Larsson scored a short-handed goal just five seconds into the third period to kindle a rally. Ekman-Larsson's goal, which tied a franchise record for quickest to open a period, came from beyond center ice after Lauri Korpikoski won the faceoff.
Martin Hanzal netted the go-ahead goal 3:42 later and Sam Gagner scored on a power play later in the period as Arizona ended its seven-game slide while sending Toronto to its eighth straight loss.
"After the second period we thought we deserved a better fate in the game," said Coyotes Dave Tippett. "We had created a lot of chances."
Mike Smith had 24 saves in the win, which also stopped a five-game road losing streak for the Coyotes, who are in the midst of an eight-game trek. It was their first win away from home since Dec. 23 in Edmonton.
The Coyotes, who are just 8-13-3 away from home, will visit Montreal tomorrow before completing the swing Tuesday in Columbus.
Ottawa has lost three of its last four games and is coming off Thursday's 6-3 setback against former Senators captain Jason Spezza and his Dallas Stars.
Thursday's game was closer than the final score made it seem, as Ottawa rallied from down 3-0 to even the contest by the early stages of the third period. John Klingberg snapped the tie for Dallas in the latter stages of the third period before Trevor Daley and Jamie Benn added empty-net markers to arrive at the final margin.
Mika Zibanejad, Bobby Ryan and Alex Chiasson scored once each for the Senators, who have lost seven of their last 10. Robin Lehner allowed four goals on 39 shots in the setback.
"We weren't competitive enough, we weren't detailed enough," Ottawa coach Dave Cameron said.
Although his team picked up a victory, Spezza failed to reach the scoresheet as he returned to Ottawa for the first time since requesting a trade from the Senators last summer. Spezza, who registered four shots on goal in 16:17 of ice time, was booed the first time he touched the puck, but the Canadian Tire Centre crowd cheered a tribute shown on the video board shortly after.
With Craig Anderson on injured reserve with a bruised hand, Lehner will start again today. Lehner is 2-4-1 with a 3.28 goals against average in seven career outings against Arizona.
The Sens are closing a three-game homestand this afternoon and are 10-7-4 as the host this season.
Arizona and the Senators each have three wins in the last six meetings in this series, but Ottawa has claimed 11 of the past 15 encounters. The Coyotes had lost six straight -- all in regulation -- on the road in this matchup before posting an overtime win in Ottawa on Dec. 21, 2013.