2021-22 Regular Season Recap

YOU ALWAYS REMEMBER YOUR FIRST
The 2021-22 Coyotes had eight different players score their first career NHL goals while playing for the team. That's the fourth-highest single-season total in franchise history, and the highest since relocating to Arizona.
Dysin Mayo - Oct. 21
J.J. Moser - Dec. 28
Matias Maccelli- March 5
Vladislav Kolyachonok - March 25
Michael Carcone - March 25
Nathan Smith - April 20
Bokondji Imama - April 23
Jack McBain - April 26
SEVENTH HEAVEN
Nick Schmaltz set a Coyotes/Jets franchise record by recording seven points (2-5-7) in the team's 8-5 win over Ottawa on March 5 at Gila River Arena. The seven points are the most an NHL player tallied in 2021-22 and the most the League has seen in a game since Sam Gagner posted eight points (4-4-8) on Feb. 2, 2012 playing for Edmonton. Schmaltz's five assists in that game also tied a Coyotes/Jets franchise record that had been done five previous times, most recently by Keith Tkachuk on Feb. 23, 2001.

PHIL THE THRILL
Phil Kessel suited up in all 82 games for the Coyotes and climbed the leaderboard of the most consecutive games played streaks in NHL history. Starting the season with the fifth-longest run, Kessel leapt to the second-longest by season's end by passing Patrick Marleau for fourth on Nov. 5, Garry Unger for third on Nov. 13 and Doug Jarvis for second on March 27. Kessel also took over the longest active streak on April 3 and completed the season by extending his run to 982 consecutive games played.

OT MAGIC
The Coyotes secured six overtime wins, which shares the fourth-highest total the franchise has ever totaled in a single campaign. Among them, Clayton Keller scored twice (Nov. 20 and Dec. 17) while Phil Kessel and Nick Schmaltz each assisted on two of the team's overtime tallies. Additionally, five of Arizona's six overtime victories occurred on the road, which is the highest figure the franchise has ever notched in a single season.
GOSTISBEHERE'S RESURGENCE
In his first season with the Coyotes, defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere played in all 82 games and registered 51 points (14-37-51). It was the first time in his career he's suited up in all 82 games, and he also set a personal best in average time on ice by seeing 22:11 a night. His goal, assist and point figures are all the second-highest he's posted in a season, with the assist and point totals trailing just his career-year of 2017-18 when he finished 10th in the Norris Trophy voting.

KELLER INSTINCT
Clayton Keller earned his second NHL All-Star selection by leading the team in goals (28) and points (63) in 67 games played. His 28 tallies set a new career-high and were the most by a Coyote since Shane Doan equaled that total in 2015-16. Keller took off in mid-November by compiling 57 points (25-32-57) in 51 games from Nov. 18 until sustaining a season-ending leg injury on March 30. The 23-year-old produced 16 multi-point games, highlighted by a career-high-tying four points in the March 5 win vs. Ottawa; as well as three different point streaks of six-plus games, culminating with an eight-game run from March 3-19. Keller enters next season four goals shy of 100 in his career.

RESILIENT BUNCH
Arizona secured three straight comeback wins to end the season, all of which came against playoff teams from the Central Division who were fighting for positioning. In Game 81, the Coyotes overcame a 3-0 third-period deficit on the road in Dallas before winning the game in overtime, marking just the eighth time the franchise won a game it trailed by three-plus goals entering the third period.
The next time out, the Coyotes engineered an even more improbable comeback when it erased a 4-0 deficit to Nashville by scoring five unanswered goals to beat the Preds in the team's final game at Gila River Arena. That win was just the fourth time in Coyotes/Jets franchise history that the team won a game that it once trailed by four goals in.
Prior to the season's final week, the Coyotes also erased multi-goal deficits against Chicago (April 20) and St. Louis (April 23) to force overtime before surrendering an overtime goal.

ERIKSSON & LADD JOIN 1,000 GAME CLUB
Loui Eriksson (Dec. 6) and Andrew Ladd (April 20) both skated in their 1,000th career NHL regular-season games with the Coyotes this season, making them the 14th and 15th players, respectively, to reach the milestone with the franchise. The duo made the 2021-22 Coyotes the 47th instance in NHL history to have multiple players on the same team reach the milestone in the same season, and just the second time that's occurred on the Coyotes (2010-11; Ed Jovanovski/Adrian Aucoin).

MARCH MADNESS
The Coyotes began the month of March with a 6-1-0 record and the League's second-best points percentage (.857) from March 1-18. The team finished the calendar month with 51 goals, 37 of which came in the team's first seven games of the month. The two highest-scoring outbursts featured an eight-goal performance versus Ottawa (March 5) and a 9-2 victory in its next showing in Detroit (March 8), capping the most goals the club has scored in a two-game span since relocating. The nine goals in Detroit also represented the most the club has recorded in one game since Dec. 15, 1995 when they were the Winnipeg Jets.

ROOKIE BLUELINERS MAKE THEIR MARK
A pair of rookie defensemen established themselves as key pieces to the organization going forward.
After playing 283 minor-league games, Dysin Mayo got called up to the Coyotes and finished the season by playing 67 games for the parent club. His defensive efforts saw him record 133 blocked shots and 129 hits while also averaging 20:55 of ice time per game to rank third among NHL rookies (min. 50 GP). Since time on ice began being tracked in 2005-06, he joined Zbynek Michalek (2005-06) as the only Coyotes to receive that amount of ice time in their rookie season.
Recalled to the Coyotes on Dec. 14, J.J. Moser became the only player selected outside of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft's first round to appear in NHL games this season. Selected 60th overall, Moser finished with 15 points (4-11-15) in 43 games to trail just Cole Sillinger (12th overall) in goals and assists among 2021 draftees. The 15 points are the most by a Coyotes rookie defenseman since Jakob Chychrun recorded 20 (7-13-20) in 2016-17. Moser will also hold the distinction of being the first defenseman from the 2021 Draft Class to score a goal as well as the first to notch a game-winning goal.

CAREER-HIGHS
The following players completed the 2021-22 campaign with career-highs in notable categories:
Travis Boyd - Games Played (74), Goals (17), Assists (18), Points (35)
Lawson Crouse - Goals (20), Assists (14-tied), Points (34)
Shayne Gostisbehere - Games Played (82), Average Time on Ice (22:11)
Barrett Hayton - Games Played (60), Goals (10), Assists (14), Points (24)
Clayton Keller - Goals (28)
Liam O'Brien - Games Played (39), Goals (2), Points (3-tied)
Nick Schmaltz - Goals (23), Assists (36), Points (59)