Phil Kessel is set to become the first player in NHL history to appear in 1,000 consecutive games when the Golden Knights host the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday at T-Mobile Arena.

Opening faceoff is scheduled for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain.

“Obviously you’ve got to get a little lucky to get there. But it’s pretty cool,” Kessel said following morning skate at City National Arena. “Today I started thinking about 1,000. A thousand in general is a lot. A thousand in a row, I was thinking I don’t know how I did it, but I did.”

Kessel set the NHL’s “Ironman” record Oct. 25 at San Jose when he appeared in his 990th consecutive game, breaking the mark set last season by defenseman Keith Yandle. He scored his 400th career goal during the 4-2 victory.

The Knights will honor Kessel, 35, with a pregame ceremony.

In 17 games, Kessel has three goals and four assists.

Kessel, a two-time Stanley Cup champion with Pittsburgh, made 208 appearances with Arizona from 2019 to 2022 and recorded 42 goals and 91 assists.

“I have some good friends over there,” Kessel said. “I had three good years there. Obviously we didn’t do exactly the greatest, but I loved my time there and they have a lot of great people over there. It’s nice that some of those guys are still some of my good friends. I saw some of them last night. It was nice seeing them, and obviously they’re good buddies of mine.”

The first-place Knights (13-4-0, 26 points) are coming off a 5-2 loss to the Sharks on Tuesday and have dropped two straight for the first time this season.

Logan Thompson was the first goaltender off the ice and is projected to start. He is 8-3 with a 2.38 goals-against average and .922 save percentage

The Coyotes (6-8-1, 13 points) are playing the sixth game of a 14-game road trip. Clayton Keller leads Arizona with 17 points (six goals, 11 assists) and enters on a five-game point streak. Travis Boyd also has recorded a point in five straight for the Coyotes.

Arizona has the league’s fourth-ranked power play at 29.6 percent, while the Knights have struggled to kill penalties in coach Bruce Cassidy’s system.

“There’s not enough urgency on our abilities to kill plays,” Cassidy said. “I would say that it’s predominantly our ability to kill plays, put out a fire, get fresh legs over there that’s worked against us.”

Golden Knights projected lineup

Forwards

Stephenson-Eichel-Stone

Smith-Karlsson-Marchessault

Cotter-Howden-Kessel

Carrier-Roy-Kolesar

Defensemen

Martinez-Pietrangelo

McNabb-Theodore

Hague-Whitecloud

Goaltender

Thompson

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Fol