Five things you didn’t know about the ’19-20 Coyotes
Those who have been keeping up with this season’s Arizona Coyotes can probably tell you a few things. Like how the team is much better on the road (11-4-1) than at home (7-7-1), or that their goaltending ranks as perhaps the best in the NHL this season.
But a deeper dive uncovered some things even the diehards might not realize. Here are five things you probably didn’t know about the 2019-20 Coyotes: (All statistics listed reflect those entering play Thursday, Dec. 12).
1. The power play is actually good
Perhaps one of the most heavily critiqued part of the Coyotes’ game this season has been the power play, but it’s actually not bad.
Entering play Wednesday, the unit ranked 10th in the NHL with a success rate of 21.2%. That ranks above high-flying teams such as the Toronto Maple Leafs and Colorado Avalanche.
And although Phil Kessel has experienced his struggles this season, he leads the team with six power-play goals.
Only four NHL players have more power-play goals than Kessel this season.
The Coyotes’ success on the man-advantage has contributed to most of their wins this season, evidenced by their 13-1-1 record when scoring a power-play goal. Tuesday’s loss to the Calgary Flames was the Coyotes’ first regulation defeat when registering a power-play goal.
2. The Coyotes are playing more 5-on-5 hockey than anyone
Just one Western Conference team has racked up fewer penalty minutes than the Coyotes (216) this season, making them one of the most disciplined teams in the NHL. On the flip side, the Coyotes are also 22nd in the league in opponent penalty minutes, which means they aren’t getting a ton of powerplay time, either.
Combine those two and what do you get? A lot of play at 5-on-5.
In fact, according to Natural Stat Trick, the Coyotes have logged more minutes at 5-on-5 than any other NHL team this season. And the numbers say it hasn’t worked out great for them, either.
The Coyotes own the league’s fifthworst Corsi For Percentage at just 47.66%, which means their opponents own 52.33% of the total shot attempts taken at even-strength.
3. The Coyotes go to (and win) a ton of shootouts
Okay, so maybe you knew this one already, But perhaps you didn’t know just how far ahead of the pack the Coyotes rank in terms of shootout appearances and wins.
The Coyotes lead all teams with five shootout wins this season. No other team has more than three. The Coyotes lead all Western Conference teams with seven appearances in the shootout this season.
No other team in the conference has more than five.
Moreover, Nick Schmaltz and Conor Garland are tied for the NHL lead with four shootout goals apiece. Surely the Coyotes would like to win some more games in regulation, but it’s hard to argue with their success in the skills competition.
4. Coyotes have some of the league’s biggest under-performers
Among skaters with at least 400 minutes of ice time at 5-on-5, Derek Stepan, Phil Kessel and Clayton Keller all rank near the bottom in most offensive production categories.
Individually, both Keller and Stepan have been credited with 20 high-danger scoring chances at 5-on-5, yet they have just a combined eight goals at evenstrength this season.
Kessel has been even more nonexistent at even-strength, posting just one goal in 33 games. For the veteran sniper, it is (by a wide margin) a career-low pace in terms of scoring output at 5-on-5.
5. Nick Schmaltz off to historic start with Coyotes
Schmaltz has already registered nine goals and 25 points in his first 27 games with the Coyotes, which equals the exact pace set by Jeremy Roenick in 1996-97, the Coyotes’ first season in the Valley.
Schmaltz leads the Coyotes this season in points (22), assists (17), and is tied for second on the team in game-winning goals (2). Schmaltz’s 10 points are also tied for the most among Coyotes players at home this season.
Schmaltz has been perhaps the Coyotes’ most consistent forward this season, despite struggles in the first couple games and some intermittent ‘meh’ stretches in the last several. But he has mostly been very good.