The Arizona Coyotes were coming off

GLENDALE Adidas Brandon Manning Jersey , Ariz. — 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 — on the verge of playing themselves out of contention only 10 days ago — 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 Adidas Cam Ward Jersey , 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, 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 Adidas Matt Calvert Jersey , 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. The Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night host a Florida Panthers team still in search of their first win in the young season.The Panthers (0-2-1) have led in each of their games thus far before losing each by one goal.“Every time we take the lead, it’s tough when the momentum changes and the other team ties it up right after. It’s a pattern so far in the first three games,” Panthers coach Bob Boughner told the team’s website. “It’ something that’s got to change.”Article continues below ...Florida’s latest defeat came at home Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks. The Panthers led 2-1 in the second period before the Canucks tied the game on a penalty shot. Vancouver took the lead early in the third period and the Panthers fell 3-2.Florida generated 62 shot attempts in the loss. The Panthers failed to cash in on any of their five power plays — and are now 0-for-12 on the season — while the Canucks were 1-for-3.“I think there’s a lot of things we can be positive about and we’re playing pretty good hockey, but we’re kind of beating ourselves,” forward Vincent Trocheck said. “We’re giving teams just a few chances Adidas Conor Timmins Jersey , but the chances we’re giving up are Grade-A quality opportunities that we can’t be giving up.”Panthers goalie James Reimer, who stopped 27 shots against Vancouver, is 0-2-1 with a 3.62 goals-against average and an .885 save percentage.The Flyers (2-3) played one of their strongest games of the season on Saturday but came away with a 1-0 loss to the visiting Vegas Golden Knights. The Flyers outshot the Knights 26-21 but couldn’t put a puck past goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.“We needed to be (better defensively). We got scored on a lot (in the first four games),” Jakub Voracek told the Courier Post. “We wanted to tidy it up a bit, which we did. The positive thing is that we didn’t take anything out of the offensive side. Obviously, we had a lot of chances and didn’t score. Another tough game (Tuesday).”The Flyers had surrendered 19 goals in their first four games.Coach Dave Hakstol was pleased with Saturday’s effort but would like to see the Flyers generate more offensive chances.“We can shoot the puck a little more, especially early in the hockey game, to establish a little more in the offensive zone,” he told Philly.com. “We can have a couple individual players play better.”Philadelphia — already missing forwards James van Riemsdyk (knee) and Nolan Patrick (upper body) got some good news Monday when winger Oskar Lindblom practiced and said he’ll be in the lineup against the Panthers.Lindblom was hit face-first into the boards Saturday by Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb and left the game.“After the hard hit, I felt a little shaky, but I got a good day off and I felt like I came back to normal pretty quick,” Lindblom told Philly.com after Monday’s practice.Brian Elliott has a 6-3-0 career record against the Panthers with a 2.41 goals-against average and .919 save percentage. Reimer is 4-4-3 with a 2.51 GAA and a .918 save percentage versus Philadelphia.