GAME DAY: Golden Knights look to end home skid against Coyotes

The Golden Knights will try to halt a three-game home losing streak Tuesday night when they host the Arizona Coyotes at T-Mobile Arena.

Opening faceoff is 7 p.m., and the game will be televised on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain.

The longest home skid in franchise history came Feb. 27 through March 16, 2018, when the Knights dropped four consecutive games.

The Knights are 16-7-3 at home and haven’t won at T-Mobile Arena since Jan. 19.

“It’s a lot of fun to play at home and be in front of the fans,” defenseman Shea Theodore said. “It’s always a big momentum booster when you can play in front of our home crowd, to able to string together some games and hopefully we get some wins together.”

Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury will make his league-high 50th start and remains stuck on 29 victories.

Winger Brandon Pirri will return for the Knights (31-22-4, 66 points) after being scratched the past two games. Coach Gerard Gallant confirmed Pirri had a sore neck that kept him out of Saturday’s 4-3 loss to Columbus.

After a hot start, Pirri has not recorded a point in his last six appearances.

Winger Oscar Lindberg also is expected to play after being scratched Saturday. He logged 14:52 in Thursday’s win at Detroit, the second-most ice time he’s seen this season.

Arizona (24-26-5, 53 points) sits six points out of a wild-card spot and halted a five-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over Dallas on Saturday.

The Coyotes are using the game to host their Dad’s trip.

Darcy Kuemper, who is 7-2-3 with a 2.54 goals-against average and .916 save percentage since Jan. 1, will oppose Fleury in net.

Coyotes center Mario Kempe (upper body) has been ruled out. Josh Archibald moves to center and forward Michael Bunting is expected to make his first appearance since Dec. 27.

Arizona owns the league’s best penalty kill at 85.1 percent and has allowed the second-fewest power-play goals in the NHL (24).

The Coyotes rank second with 12 short-handed goals.

“They’re very aggressive,” Gallant said. “You’ve got to move the puck quick, and you’ve got to get it to the net quick. If you make some real good plays, you’re going to get grade-A opportunities. If you don’t, if you let their pressure take advantage of you, then they’re going to get a lot of clears and you’re going to get frustrated.

“Hopefully we’ll get some shots to the net and recover some rebounds, and that’s how you beat a real good PK like theirs.”

Golden Knights projected lineup

Forwards

Jonathan Marchessault-William Karlsson-Reilly Smith

Max Pacioretty-Paul Stastny-Alex Tuch

Oscar Lindberg-Cody Eakin-Brandon Pirri

William Carrier-Pierre-Edouard Bellemare-Ryan Reaves

Defensemen

Brayden McNabb-Nate Schmidt

Shea Theodore-Deryk Engelland

Jon Merrill-Colin Miller

Goaltender