Arizona Coyotes off to Hot Start

Arizona Coyotes’ prospects Max Domi and Anthony Duclair were one of the few bright spots for the Arizona Coyotes heading into the 2015-16 season. It was a duo in the conversation for Calder Trophy candidacy, but not expected to compete with Jack Eichel or Connor McDavid due to the perceived weakness of the team overall. It’s only been three games so far but this young Arizona Coyotes team is looking good on the shoulders of Mike Smith.

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Mike Smith is coming off one of his worst NHL seasons in terms of numbers, but is looking to bounce back to the form that carried the Coyotes deep into the playoffs in recent years. The Coyotes brought some familiar faces back this season in Antoine Vermette, Zbynek Michalek, and Boyd Gordon most noteably. The biggest surprise just three games into the season is young Tobias Rieder, who’s coming off a 21-point rookie season.

The Arizona Coyotes look poised to be the next breakout team with the wealth of prospect talent they have brewing in the system. 2015 first-rounder Dylan Strome was sent back to junior, but figures to be a big part of Arizona’s future and could eventually lineup next to Max Domi and Anthony Duclair. Brandon Perlini is playing his last year of junior and could figure to be a top-six forward down the road in a year or two.

The guy never being talked about is Christian Dvorak, who played with fellow teammate Max Domi in Arizona and London. He actually outscored Max Domi last season with 109 points. Already in five games with London, Dvorak has nine points to begin his last OHL season. A few years further down the road, you’ve got Nick Merkley who was taken 30th overall at the 2015 draft. Lastly, former second-rounder from the 2013 draft, Laurent Dauphin is entering his first year of pro hockey in the AHL after three solid seasons in Chicoutimi of the QMJHL. He could be a decent bottom-six forward in the near future.

Arizona kicked off their season in a game vs. Los Angeles where Max Domi led the way with a goal and an assist en route to a 4-1 victory. Tobias Reider also added a goal and an assist, with the only other multi-point performance coming from Martin Hanzal‘s two assists. Goalie Mike Smith stopped 40 of 41 shots faced by the Kings.

Arizona Coyotes F Max Domi’s first career NHL goal can be seen below:

Pittsburgh Penguins came into town the next night and were stunned by a hungry young Coyotes team that out-shot them 39-28. Arizona went on to win the game 2-1, while Mike Smith stopped 27 of 28 shots. The first goal was scored by Tobias Reider assisted by Anthony Duclair and Martin Hazal. The second goal was scored by rookie Jordan Martinook assisted by Steve Downie and Boyd Gordon. Phil Kessel scored the only lone goal for the winless Penguins that night.

After a four day layoff from play, the Arizona Coyotes matched up against the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night. The Ducks found themselves down three goals in the first 13 minutes of play after Anthony Duclair scored a pair in the first ten minutes, followed by Max Domi at the 12:53 mark in period one. Backup goalie Anton Khudobin did start the game against Arizona, but was pulled in favor of Frederik Andersen after the third goal.

There aren’t many players that effectively use the back-hand shot anymore. Check out this beauty back-hander by Max Domi:

In the second period, the Arizona Coyotes added another with Anthony Duclair finishing off the hat-trick for the first of his career. Both teams settled down through the rest of the second and through the third playing responsible defensive hockey.

The Ducks ended up out-shooting the Coyotes but fell short in a 4-0 loss

. Anaheim Ducks now have

one goal scored in the last nine periods of play

. The Arizona Coyotes have now started 3-0 for the first time since 2004. You can check out the Duclair performance below:

Don’t look now, but this young Arizona Coyotes squad is turning some heads showing that they’re not going to accept the role as basement dweller in the Western Conference this season. We’ve seen Mike Smith put up Vezina-type performances in the past, but has battled with inconsistencies. For the time being, it looks as though they have the elite Mike Smith back, which could help propel this team into an unlikely playoff position. If you want to catch some exciting hockey though, just watch this young Arizona Coyotes team, because they’ve been entertaining thus far.

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