Thursday night’s game between the Coyotes and the Montreal Canadiens at Jobing.com Arena will also serve as a mini-family reunion for Phoenix forwards Taylor Pyatt and Shane Doan.

Taylor Pyatt

If the coaches cooperate, Pyatt will for the first time play an NHL game against his younger brother Tom Pyatt, whom the Canadiens recalled from the American Hockey League just last week.

Tom Pyatt is a center who is six years younger than Taylor Pyatt, a winger. The older Pyatt said he is eager to see his kid brother on the other bench.

“It’s definitely exciting,” Taylor Pyatt said. “I’m real proud of him. He’s worked real hard the last few years and he finally got the call (to the NHL) last week… I’m real excited at the opportunity to play against him. Our parents are really looking forward to it.”

The Pyatt brothers have different hockey personas. Taylor is known for his size and his physical play. Tom is smaller and more of a playmaker.

Tom Pyatt

“He’s a real good two-way centerman,” Taylor Pyatt said. “He’s not as big as I am, but he’s a real smart player and works real hard. He put up some real good numbers in Hamilton (of the AHL) this year and he’s going up to do the same thing in Montreal.”

Taylor and Tom Pyatt are the sons of Nelson Pyatt, a center who notched 134 points in 296 NHL games in the 1970s.

Meanwhile, Doan and his second cousin Carey Price, one of Montreal’s two goaltenders, may get to face each other for the third time in their NHL careers.

Price and the Canadiens twice have beaten Doan and the Coyotes in the two games between the teams in which the second cousins have played. Doan, however, scored a goal on Price in each game.

“When he is on, he’s one of the best goalies in the league,” Doan said.

He added: “Playing against each other is really enjoyable for our families to have something to laugh and talk about. … I’ve scored on him twice, but he’s won the games so I guess that’s all that matters.”

It’s not clear if Price will start vs. Phoenix. Price and Jaroslav Halak have been splitting time in the Montreal goal lately. Halak played at Calgary on Tuesday night.

ICE CHIP

Defenseman Ed Jovanovski is still considered "day-to-day" with a lower-body injury. Jovanovski has not played in a game or practiced with teammates since suffering a lower-body injury vs. Chicago last week.