ARIZONA COYOTES

‘Yotes Notes: Raanta likely to return against Wild

Mar 16, 2018, 5:09 PM | Updated: Mar 17, 2018, 9:16 am

Arizona Coyotes goaltender Antti Raanta (32) jumps out to cover the puck as Ottawa Senators center ...

Arizona Coyotes goaltender Antti Raanta (32) jumps out to cover the puck as Ottawa Senators center Jean-Gabriel Pageau (44) arrives too late to get a stick on it during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, March 3, 2018, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Coyotes goalie Antti Raanta practiced on Friday at the Ice Den Scottsdale. If everything feels right on Saturday morning, he should be ready to play that night against the Minnesota Wild at Gila River Arena.

“Raants had a good practice,” coach Rick Tocchet said. “We’ll decide [Saturday] but I think he’s ready to go. He’s actually practiced three or four days with [goalie coach Corey Schwab] so I think he’s looking pretty good.”

To make room for him, the Coyotes re-assigned goalie Adin Hill to the Tucson Roadrunners.

Raanta has missed the past six games with a lower-body injury. He said it was something that first cropped up the day of a road game against the Edmonton Oilers on March 5.

“It’s been feeling good,” Raanta said. “Every day has been a little better. We just want to make sure that we’re not going to step back any more.”

Of the Coyotes’ 70 games this season, Raanta has been unavailable to start for 25 (36 percent) so far due to injury, per the team’s game logs. While he said there isn’t a great deal of difference in managing his body as a No.1 goalie vs. a backup, he said it has been a learning experience.

“You’re learning all the time something to maybe be doing before the ice or after the ice, how you can keep your body in better shape,” he said. “When you get older, you start understanding more about the off-ice things and you start listening to your body a little more. It’s not just going home and playing Xbox.”

Tocchet said Raanta has adhered to the team’s suggestions since the start of the season.

“I wish he came in in better shape this summer but since that time he’s done everything we’ve asked of him and more,” Tocchet said. “His nutrition is way better, he’s lost body fat, he goes through practice and I don’t even see him breathing heavy. To me, it’s all a positive.”

Raanta said he has talked about what he might do differently this summer after he gets through the season and plays as many games as possible.

“The biggest thing is the small muscles — what you actually need to work on when you’re a goalie — the groins and all the small things in the hips,” he said. “For me, it’s kind of taking flexibility away a little bit. I’ve always been a little bit too flexible. When you have that, you’re just reaching all the time.

“Getting stronger in those areas is going to be the big thing for sure.”

STROME’S EVALUATION

General manager John Chayka said this week that a long-term injury to Laurent Dauphin will not impact the Coyotes’ desire to give Dylan Strome another look at the NHL level.

With Dauphin out, Strome’s recall would remove two centers from the Tucson Roadrunners roster as they make a push toward the postseason, which begins the week of April 15.

“We’re still going to look to give Dylan a span of games,” Chayka said. “We just want to put him in a position to have success and we’re waiting for that to happen.”

Chayka thinks the Roadrunners have enough depth to weather the recall during the regular season.

“We picked up Carter Camper and he’s a high-end center in the American League,” Chayka said.

As of Friday, with 12 games remaining on the Coyotes’ schedule, Chayka still had not made a determination on when Strome would be recalled.

“We’re reviewing all roster possibilities daily now,” he said.

QUOTABLE

“I think he’s playing his best hockey. He’s playing like he wants to play in the playoffs. Unfortunately, this year, it’s not going to happen for him, but I can tell he wants to sharpen his game going into next year and I think that’s the mindset we have to have.” — Tocchet on defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s recent play

LOOSE PUCKS

— Tocchet said Zac Rinaldo is available to play on Saturday. He will be a game-time decision. Rinaldo has missed the past eight games with an upper-body injury.

— Derek Stepan took a maintenance day on Friday.

Wild at Coyotes
When: 6 p.m., Saturday
Where: Gila River Arena, Glendale
TV: FOX Sports Arizona Plus
Radio: ESPN 620 AM
Records: Wild — 39-24-7. Coyotes — 23-36-11.
Season series: Coyotes lead 2-0.
Injury report: Wild — F Luke Kunin (ACL) is out for the season. Coyotes — F Zac Rinaldo (upper body) and G Antti Raanta (lower body) are day to day. C Laurent Dauphin (lower body) is out indefinitely.

Wild scouting report: Heading into Friday’s game at Vegas, Minnesota had lost two in a row. The Wild led the Colorado Avalanche by one point, and the Dallas Stars by two points for third place in the Central Division. … Wild forward Jason Zucker has 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in his past 10 games. … Goalie Devan Dubnyk is one win from 200 in his NHL career. … Forward Eric Staal has 16 points (11 goals, five assists) in his past 12 games and is three goals from his first 40-goal season since 2008-09. … Forward Mikael Granlund has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in his past 11 games.

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‘Yotes Notes: Raanta likely to return against Wild