Kings-Coyotes Preview

Goaltender Louis Domingue played a sizable role in helping the Arizona Coyotes end their recent woes just before the Christmas break.

Coach Dave Tippett indicated he might use both his netminders when the Coyotes face a back-to-back set this weekend that begins with Saturday night's visit from the Los Angeles Kings.

Arizona (16-15-2) headed into its three-day hiatus with two wins, edging the New York Islanders 1-0 last Saturday and Toronto 3-2 on Tuesday. After recording his first career shutout, Dominigue made 37 saves against the Maple Leafs.

"That was a big win for us," said defenseman Connor Murphy, who scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period. "It's all about trying to carry positive play, starting with our defensive play. Starting with goalie out, Louis was outstanding. We need that, and we've got to play well in front of him."

Dominigue will likely start just one of the next two games, either the finale of this six-game homestand or a visit to Colorado on Sunday.

"We've got two games in less than 24 hours so I would imagine both guys will play," Tippett said.

Dominigue, who has never faced Los Angeles, is 2-1-0 with a 1.62 goals-against average in three appearances since being called up from the minors Dec. 11. The Coyotes needed his help with Mike Smith out until February because of a lower-body injury.

Arizona was outscored 37-21 in a 1-6-1 stretch to open this month, and Anders Lindback was pulled in place of Dominigue after giving up four goals on 10 shots in a 7-5 loss to Columbus on Dec. 17. Lindback is 1-1-1 with a 4.28 GAA in his last four and 1-2-0 with a 4.20 GAA in three career starts against the Kings.

That would seem to give an edge to Dominigue for this game, and he'd face a team that gave up a combined 10 goals in back-to-back losses before the break. Those starts were split by Jhonas Enroth and Jonathan Quick, who was charged with four goals in a 5-3 loss to San Jose on Tuesday.

Quick has given up a combined nine goals in his last three starts but earned a 3-0 win in Montreal on Dec. 17 for his second shutout of the season.

"We've given up a lot of goals these last couple of games," forward Tyler Toffoli said. "That's not our type of hockey. We need to find a way back to shutting things down. We need to refocus."

Los Angeles (20-11-2) hasn't lost three straight since its 0-3-0 start but is 1-2-1 in its last four road games. The Coyotes are 7-1-1 in their last nine at home.

The Kings, who are starting a four-game trip, have been outscored 7-3 in their two losses to Arizona this season with Quick in net for both games.

Martin Hanzal has three goals and two assists in his last three matchups with Los Angeles, but missed Tuesday's game because of a lower-body injury.

Defenseman Zbynek Michalek also has a lower-body injury that has kept him out since Dec. 11, but Tippett indicated fellow blueliner Nicklas Grossmann might play Saturday after being forced to leave the win against Toronto with an upper-body ailment.

Los Angeles won 4-0 in its most recent trip to Arizona on Dec. 4, 2014, to end a five-game skid there.