COYOTES

Dave Moss' injury opens spot for Justin Hodgman on Arizona Coyotes

Sarah McLellan
azcentral sports
Coyotes forward Justin Hodgman (52) controls the puck in front of Coyotes forward Shane Doan during the first period of an intra-squad scrimmage at Gila River Arena in Glendale on Saturday, September 27, 2014.

While the Coyotes appear to be on the brink of welcoming back center Martin Hanzal from injury, they could be losing another player for a lengthy period of time.

Winger Dave Moss visited with doctors Friday and Saturday to determine the severity of his upper-body injury. Moss blocked a shot from Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin on the penalty kill with his hand at 18:02 of the second period of Thursday's 2-0 loss in Minnesota. He left the game and did not return.

Moss missed Saturday's game against the Florida Panthers and did not skate in the morning with teammates. The team is listing him as week-to-week.

"He's still got to get a few more tests, but he could be a little longer term here," coach Dave Tippett said.

With Moss unavailable, the Coyotes recalled center Justin Hodgman from their American Hockey League affiliate and Hodgman made his NHL debut Saturday.

Through the first six games of the season, Moss had tallied only an assist but had recently formed an effective line with winger Rob Klinkhammer and center Kyle Chipchura.

"Mosser's just a good, steady player ... ," Tippett said. "But that's an opportunity for somebody else."

Still, the Coyotes forward group could receive a boost soon with Hanzal progressing from his lower-body injury. Hanzal appeared to injure his left knee Oct.18 against the St. Louis Blues — he was later wearing a bandage on that area — and did not accompany the team on its recent two-game road trip.

Hanzal skated on his own for 15 minutes Friday and participated in the team's morning skate Saturday. He'll skate again today and travel on the upcoming four-game road trip and barring any setbacks, Tippett anticipates Hanzal will play Tuesday against the Lightning in Tampa Bay.

"I'm actually I think way better than I expected," Hanzal said. "It's frustrating, but I gotta go daytoday and see how it goes."

Hanzal said he felt sharp pain as soon as he fell to the ice in that game against the Blues. He almost did the splits after losing his balance while battling for a loose puck near the crease, and he feared the injury might sideline him for quite some time. But his status has continued to improve.

"I thought I'd be out for a while, but actually it wasn't that bad," he said. "The (test) results came back, and it wasn't that bad so I'm really glad about it."

Memorable night

Hodgman had just settled into his hotel room in Manchester, N.H., Thursday in preparation for a game the next night when he saw Portland Pirates coach and General Manager Ray Edwards' name pop up on his cellphone.

"Once I saw Ray's name on the phone, I kind of had an idea — especially at that time," Hodgman said. "Just elation."

As soon as he was told he'd be returning to the Coyotes, Hodgman immediately called his dad, Derek, to share the news. The 26-year-old didn't expect any family or friends in the stands for his first NHL game with the short turnaround, but he hopes they'll have many more opportunities.

"This is the first one, but I don't want just one," Hodgman said. "I want to be here. I want to stick around."

Wing man

With the addition of Hodgman up the middle, center Sam Gagner played his first game of the season at wing against the Panthers.

"I still gotta prepare the same way," he said. "I've gotta be hard on the walls, on puck battles and make sure I'm moving my feet, and I think if I can do that, hopefully I can create some offense."