Kings’ Darryl Sutter and Coyotes’ Dave Tippett share NHL career longevity

Arizona Coyotes Coach Dave Tippett will officially enter the 1,000-games-coached club Tuesday night, joining 23 others who accomplished that feat in the NHL.

One of those club members happens to be Kings Coach Darryl Sutter. Sutter is sixth among active coaches in games coached. For Sutter, Tuesday night will be game No. 1,171.

“For somebody like Dave who has coached as long as he has -- he played also, obviously -- you have to be able to do it through the changes with the game, to be able to sustain that,” Sutter said after Tuesday’s morning skate. “Tells you a lot, too.”

Chicago’s Joel Quenneville, who will be coaching in his 1,429^th game Tuesday night at Colorado, is the leader among active coaches. Lindy Ruff of the Dallas Stars is second.

“You sort of do it in third person when you talk about it, quite honestly,” Sutter said. “I’ve had to hire coaches also. ... All those guys you’ve talked about. We’ve all been through two or three lockouts and those lockouts just weren’t salary related. ... They were rule-changed related.”

Said Tippett, speaking with reporters after the Coyotes’ morning skate: “It’s been an enjoyable 1,000 games. ... One thousand is a nice number to get to, hopefully lots more.”

Another subplot for Tuesday night’s game could be the Milan Lucic factor. The Kings left wing was suspended one game for sucker punching Coyotes defenseman Kevin Connauton when the Kings and Coyotes played in Arizona on Jan. 23.

Lucic knows the territory and obviously Arizona doesn’t quite match other markets on the hostility meter.

“I’ve been in this situation more than a few times,” he said. “If there’s a response, I’m ready to respond. But like I said, the most important thing for me and the team, is to win the game.”

The Kings struggled in the stretch leading up to the All-Star break, dropping three of four games. Goalie Jonathan Quick lost his three most recent starts but appears to be getting the nod against the Coyotes. Jhonas Enroth, who won at San Jose on Jan. 24, stayed on the ice for extra work Tuesday morning, along with forwards Kyle Clifford and Andy Andreoff and defenseman Christian Ehrhoff.

“I think the break came at a real good time,” Lucic said. “Our game has been kind of inconsistent in the last 10. It’s a good chance for us to get re-energized and get some rest and look forward to the last 33 games that we have left here.”

Twitter: @reallisa