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Flames-Coyotes Preview

Feb 12, 2016 - 7:30 AM Just over three weeks ago, Arizona was sitting in second place and trying to snap a three-game losing streak to avoid conceding a spot in the standings. The Coyotes failed, and three Pacific Division foes have blown by them since.

A fourth could be on the way Friday night with streaking Calgary stopping in Arizona to complete a back-to-back road set.

The Coyotes (24-23-6) were tied with San Jose entering a head-to-head matchup on Jan. 21 and lost to complete a four-game losing streak. They followed it with two wins but have gone 0-4-1 since and are 2-7-2 dating to Jan. 14, watching Anaheim cruise by first before Vancouver did the same in Wednesday's 2-1 final.

"They are tight games right now and you can't afford mistakes," coach Dave Tippett told the team's official website. "We are letting points slip away. We know exactly what we have to do and the points we have to gain. It hasn't been very fruitful lately."

The 11-game span has furnished just 19 goals, though the power play has at least started to come around with a 4-for-13 mark in the last three following a 1-for-28 span. It's also been a struggle defensively with 23 goals allowed on the current five-game skid, and while some of that falls on goaltending, Arizona has allowed 35.8 shots per game in that time.

"You can sit there and feel sorry for yourself and think you should've won," said Max Domi, who assisted on Martin Hanzal's second-period goal. "But at the end of the day, if you only score one goal it isn't going to cut it. We did some good things tonight, but at this time of the year just doing some things isn't really good enough."

Louis Domingue has been in goal for four of those games, going 0-3-1 with a 4.94 goals-against average and .853 save percentage. He won his only game against Calgary on Jan. 7, making 25 saves in a 2-1 road victory.

The Coyotes have opened the season series with consecutive wins by that score after losing the previous five with the Flames. Hanzal scored in both, as did Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

Calgary (25-25-3) traveled after a late night in San Jose, winning 6-5 in a shootout after building a 4-1 first-period lead. It fell behind in the third before Kris Russell again tied it, and the Flames then killed a 5-on-3 to get it to overtime. The win was their third straight in a stretch where they've scored 13 goals, moving them one back of Arizona for fifth in the division.

Mikael Backlund has scored in all three, and Sean Monahan has three goals and four assists in his last four games as the club masks defensive struggles resulting in eight goals in two games.

"Gutsy effort from our guys," Bob Hartley said via the team's official Twitter feed. "I'm very proud of our team."

Karri Ramo faced the Sharks and exited with a lower-body injury near the end of regulation, so Jonas Hiller will spend his 34th birthday between the pipes after earning the win over the Sharks in eight scoreless minutes.

"We really needed these points, and I want nothing more than to help the team win," Hiller said.

Hiller was in goal for Calgary's previous two wins and has gone 4-1-1 with a .942 save percentage in his last seven games.

The former Anaheim goaltender has won eight straight versus the Coyotes as part of an 11-0-1 run with a 1.97 GAA since last losing to them in regulation on Nov. 23, 2011.