contract before the Feb. 25 trade deadline and if the confusion over the status of his no-movement clause

GLENDALE Brady Skjei Jersey , Ariz. — The Arizona Coyotes were coming off lopsided home-ice losses to Calgary (6-1) and Colorado (5-1) when general manager John Chayka, unable to wait any longer for more offense, went out and traded for forward Nick Schmaltz.One game later, with the Coyotes down 3-1 to the Minnesota Wild going into the third period on the road, goaltender Antti Raanta left with a lower-body injury. With backup Darcy Kuemper already injured, coach Rick Tocchet was forced to insert the team’s AHL goalie, Adin Hill.Remarkably, the Coyotes — on the verge of playing themselves out of contention only 10 days ago — haven’t lost since.Article continues below ...Arizona will take a four-game winning streak, some momentum and some growing confidence into its Thursday night game against the Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals, who, only a few days ago, had all of the above and more.But the Capitals have lost their last two following a seven-game winning streak and http://www.officialblackhawksproshop.com/authentic-adidas-artem-anisimov-jersey , in a 5-3 loss at the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday, may have lost top-line right wing Tom Wilson for a while with a head injury. Wilson, arguably the NHL’s most notorious hitter, was leveled by a blindside hit from Vegas forward Ryan Reaves so hard that it knocked Wilson’s helmet off.The Capitals (15-9-3) didn’t practice Thursday in advance of the second game of a three-game road trip, a day off that gave them time to think about all they didn’t like about the loss in Las Vegas. Namely, losing Wilson and allowing two goals by former Washington defenseman Nate Schmidt in the final two minutes of the game.“Reaves targeted him (Wilson) the entire game,” Capitals coach Todd Rierden said. “You could hear it on every faceoff, you could hear the things that were being said. And it’s a blindside hit where an unsuspecting player hits his head on the ice. So that’s disappointing. You can put two and two together, but he targeted him the entire game.”Washington already is without forward T.J. Oshie, who sustained the fifth concussion of his career against the Winnipeg Jets three weeks ago.Hill, one of the NHL’s unlikeliest success stories this season, will make his fourth consecutive start on Thursday at Gila River Arena. He is 2-0 with an 0.56 goals-against average following the Coyotes’ 2-1 win at the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday Brandon Saad Jersey , when more than a handful of his 25 saves were difficult ones.The Coyotes’ special teams produced both goals. Schmaltz scored his fourth of the season on the power play and forward Lawson Crouse scored the team’s league-leading 11th short-handed goal.But it’s Hill that’s been truly special. And coach Rick Tocchet isn’t about to sit down a goaltender who has made 85 saves on 87 shots.“He’s unflappable right now,” Tocchet said. “He’s feeling it, and it’s a nice story. … He’s come in and he’s put the plug in for us and he’s holding the fort. We’ll just keep going from there.”The Coyotes thought Raanta might be ready by now, but he didn’t practice Wednesday and Tocchet said Hill would start again.“It’s nice to know the staff here in Arizona has confidence in me, and I want to give them no reason not to,” Hill said.Schmaltz, acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks, has given the Coyotes’ top line a much different look since Tocchet put him at center between Alex Galchenyuk and Clayton Keller before a 3-0 win at Nashville on Nov. 29. In the three games since, Keller and Schmaltz have two goals and three assists apiece and Galchenyuk has an assist.“They’ve got some chemistry going,” Tocchet said. “And they’re going to get better. There’s another level between those guys.”The Capitals and Coyotes split their two games last season, with each winning in overtime on their home ice. The Coyotes (13-11-2) already have won 13 games; they didn’t win their 13th game last season until Feb. 8. In this week's NHL rumors update, there is news out of Carolina Brent Seabrook Jersey Kids , Ottawa, Buffalo, Edmonton, St. Louis and other teams as the trade deadline approaches.Is Dougie Hamilton a trade candidate out of Carolina despite how much the team gave up to acquire him? Are the Buffalo Sabres having trouble coming to terms with Jeff Skinner and the Senators having trouble coming to terms with Matt Duchene? What's going on in Edmonton where the Oilers can't seem to get Milan Lucic to score or respond when their biggest star is being taken advantage of?Here are the biggest rumors coming out of the NHL this week.advertisingBoston Bruins and St. Louis Blues Working on Deal? via Sporting NewsSpeculation recently is that Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney has been very active on the phone with other GMs around the NHL trying to engineer a trade. He鈥檚聽tried, unsuccessfully, to find a fit alongside David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk and聽Jimmy Murphy of CLNS Media is reporting that聽the team has turned to the St. Louis Blues聽where they are looking at Brayden Schenn.While there was some speculation the team was also interested in Vladimir Tarasenko, Schenn might be a better fit due to the lower cap hit and shorter term left on his current contract.聽Rumors suggest to land Schenn, the Bruins would have to move a player like Danton Heinen, Matt Grzelcyk or Peter Cehlarik.advertisingBig News Coming Out of Edmonton via SportsnetDarren Dreger was on TSN 1050聽and says he believes the Edmonton Oilers may be looking to move as many as five forwards off the roster. Brian Burke also said during Saturday's Sportsnet broadcast that the Oilers will try to make more moves but this could be a challenging time, both because this is typically not the time of the season where trades are prevalent and that teams will try to take advantage of the Oilers while they are struggling.聽Pierre LeBrun of TSN noted the Oilers top priority is to actually improve their forwards and a top-four defender.advertisingThere is also talk that the Oilers might consider benching Milan Lucic in Sunday鈥檚 game against the Ducks and speculation that he鈥檚 not happy in Edmonton.聽The consensus is that Lucic has checked out, wouldn鈥檛 respond because he has friends on the Kings team and isn鈥檛 interested in working with Edmonton to get the Oilers out of this funk they鈥檙e in.Islanders May Have A Number of Trades Coming via amny.comThe New York Islanders will be a team to watch as the NHL Trade Deadline approaches. They have players like Jordan Eberle, Brock Nelson Youth Corey Crawford Jersey , Robin Lehner, Valtteri Filppula, and Anders Lee scheduled to become unrestricted free agents at the end of the year, and many if not all of them could be traded before the end of the season.advertisingIslanders GM Lou Lamoriello knows what it feels like to have this many pending free agents as he went through a similar situation in Toronto last season and perhaps he might take a different approach this season, moving these players for assets if they don't re-sign. Perhaps the only player the Islanders really choose to try and keep in the organization is Anders Lee.A Jeff Skinner Actually Possible? via The Buffalo NewsThe Athletic鈥檚 Ryan Stimson suggested that is the Buffalo Sabres and Jeff Skinner can鈥檛 come to terms on a new contract before the Feb. 25 trade deadline and if the confusion over the status of his no-movement clause can be cleared up, he could be moved before the end of the season.advertisingStimson suggests Skinner to the Nashville Predators, Columbus Blue Jackets, Toronto Maple Leafs or Edmonton Oilers might all be an option the Sabres would consider. Skinner will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and will be looking for huge money on the free agent market.