Detroit Red Wings at Coyotes: What time, TV channel is visit to NHL’s smallest arena on?

Detroit Red Wings (33-23-6) vs. Arizona Coyotes (25-32-5)

When: 9 p.m. Friday.

Where: Mullett Arena in Tempe, Arizona.

TV: Bally Sports Detroit.

Radio: WXYT-FM (97.1).

∎ BOX SCORE

Eyes on the ice: Here’s how to watch the Red Wings this season without Bally Sports Detroit.

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON: Red Wings’ skid at NHL trade deadline not the same as in 2023

Game notes: After facing playoff contenders for most of the past two weeks — and dropping three straight to them — the Red Wings finally get a break with a visit to the NHL’s smallest arena and the perpetually woebegone Coyotes.

Mullett Arena holds just 4,600 fans in its side hustle as the Coyotes’ temporary-but-not-really home, hosting the Arizona State hockey program in its day gig. That’s more than 10,000 seats fewer than the league’s next smallest arena, in Winnipeg (15,004). Still, the Coyotes’ 30 sellouts this season have been treated to 15 of the team’s 25 victories, and that’s despite a recent 14-game skid that featured five home losses.

The Coyotes, despite that awful skid that torpedoed their early playoff hopes, aren’t completely awful. In late November and early December, they put out a banger of a five-game win streak, topping each of the past five Stanley Cup champs. (They didn’t raise a banner for that, though perhaps they should have.)

Arizona’s ranks in goals for and allowed per game — eighth-worst (2.90) and ninth-worst (3.32), respectively — belie the solid talent on the roster: four-time All-Star Clayton Keller has an outside shot at 30 goals in his age-25 season, 2019 fourth-rounder Matias Maccelli has 33 assists in his third season, and former Minnesota Golden Gophers star Logan Cooley has 10 goals and 19 assists in his rookie campaign and won’t turn 20 until May.

The Wings, meanwhile, are in a bit of an offensive funk; after scoring eight goals against Washington on Feb. 27, they have just five goals in their past three games combined. Two of those belong to Olli Määttä — he had a brace against the New York Islanders on Feb. 29 — which underscores the wobbliness of the offense. Yes, Dylan Larkin is out, but the Patrick Kane/Alex DeBrincat hookup has been toothless, as have depth scorers such as Daniel Spring, Shaybne Gostisbehere and J.T. Compher. Will Wings GM Steve Yzerman double down on offense at today’s trade deadline, pick up a defenseman to shore up the unit that’s allowing the 12^th-most goals per game, or stand pat? We’ll find out at 3 p.m.

After that, and after this one, the Wings continue their final Western trip with a jaunt across the desert to Las Vegas, where they’ll face the Golden Knights — who’ve already added offense (former Wing Anthony Mantha) and defense (former Flame Noah Hanifin) — on Saturday at 10 p.m. The Coyotes, meanwhile, will hit the road for a visit to Chicago on Sunday night.

Live updates

For updates from and around the rink, check it out on X.

Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on X (which used to be Twitter, y’know?) @theford. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. 

We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.