By Dave Vest
GLENDALE – The Coyotes will play the second of back-to-back games tonight when they host the Vancouver Canucks at Jobing.com Arena. The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. (Arizona time).

Phoenix (25-18-9) will attempt to rebound from a deflating 5-3 loss at San Jose on Tuesday night, a game in which the Coyotes led 3-0 late in the second period. San Jose scored four goals in the third period to end Phoenix’s road winning streak at five games.

"It's going to be a character game for us," Coyotes center Andrew Ebbett said after Wednesday's optional morning skate. "We know it's a stiff challenge; we've got the best team in the League coming in here tonight so we're looking forward to it."

The Coyotes will play minus defenseman Ed Jovanovski, who suffered an upper-body injury in Tuesday's game. Jovanovski is considered day-to-day.

Ilya Bryzgalov is expected to make his 11th consecutive start in goal for the Coyotes, who will try to snap a four-game home losing streak.

This is the second of four games between the Coyotes and Canucks this season. Phoenix won the first game, 3-2, at Vancouver on Nov. 21. Taylor Pyatt, who played for the Canucks before joining the Coyotes, scored two of Phoenix’s goals.

Photo by Getty Images.

Coyotes defenseman Keith Yandle will enter the game with a 10-game point streak (three goals, 12 assists) and a two-game goal streak.

The Canucks (32-10-9) beat Dallas, 4-1, on Tuesday night to earn their 72nd and 73rd points of the season, which is more than any other team in the NHL.

Twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin are leading the way for Vancouver on offense with 66 and 62 points, respectively.

Roberto Luongo did not play at Dallas on Tuesday and is expected to play tonight. He will enter the game with a 2.27 goals-against average, which ranks 7th in the League.

Vancouver, which has won three games in a row, ranks third in the NHL in power-play efficiency at 24.1 percent.