Phoenix Coyotes center Marc-Antoine Pouliot will play on Thursday night in the third game of his team's Western Conference final series against the Los Angeles Kings. He'll take the lineup spot of Martin Hanzal, who was suspended on Wednesday by the NHL's Department of Player Safety for his boarding penalty against Kings captain Dustin Brown during Tuesday night's Game 2.
The 27-year-old Pouliot is in his first season with the Coyotes. He played 13 games for Phoenix during the regular season, recording four assists. He also had 12 goals and 24 assists in 48 games for Phoenix's AHL affiliate, the Portland Pirates. A former first-round pick of the Edmonton Oilers (22nd overall) in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, Pouliot has 21 goals and 26 assists in 192 career games with the Oilers, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Coyotes.
Pouliot was recalled to the Coyotes as part of a taxi squad once the Pirates finished their AHL season. He played his first career Stanley Cup Playoff game against the Blackhawks on April 19, and picked up his first playoff point, an assist, early in the second period of an overtime loss on April 21. Pouliot played three of the five games in Phoenix's Western Conference semifinal win over the Nashville Predators, but has been a healthy scratch for three consecutive games.
Hanzal, the third Phoenix player to be suspended this offseason along with winger Raffi Torres (25 games) and defenseman Rostislav Klesla (one game), has three goals and two assists in 10 playoff games for the Coyotes, he had eight goals and 26 assists in 64 regular-season games in 2011-12, his fifth season in Phoenix.
The Coyotes trail Los Angeles in the series, two games to none. Game 3 is scheduled for a 9 p.m. ET start on Thursday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
