Yotes Notes: Season-Opening Win & Schmaltz's Career Milestones

NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Arizona Coyotes couldn’t have asked for a much better start to their season, but their first road trip is just getting started.

Fresh off their 4-3 season-opening win on Friday, the Coyotes are prepping for a busy week of play, set for four games this week. The team will face the New York Rangers, New York Islanders, and St. Louis Blues over a four-day span before hosting the Anaheim Ducks in their home opener at Mullett Arena on Saturday.

Friday’s win over the Devils featured a mixture of contributions from both old and new faces, as Nick Schmaltz and Clayton Keller recorded two points each, but newcomers Matt Dumba, Sean Durzi, and Logan Cooley also found the scoresheet in their first game in a Kachina sweater. Karel Vejmelka earned his 32nd career win with a stellar performance between the pipes, ensuring the Coyotes came away with the win.

Schmaltz earned both his 200th career assist and 300th point in Friday's win, though his game-tying goal has already put him at 301 career points.

On to the show!

The Week in Review

Friday, Oct. 13 | at New Jersey | 4-3 Win (Shootout)
STATS | THE WRAP

Schmaltz recorded a goal and an assist, and both Keller and Cooley also notched two points en route to the Coyotes’ first season-opening win since the 2016-17 season. Newcomers Dumba and Durzi also scored in the win, while Karel Vejmelka turned away 33 of the 36 shots he faced, as well as both attempts in the shootout.

Dumba officially scored the Coyotes’ first goal of the season, burying a perfect drop pass from Keller past Devils’ netminder Akira Schmid. Durzi padded the lead early in the second before New Jersey came storming back, scoring three unanswered goals en route to a 3-2 lead.

Schmaltz’s power-play goal with 6:05 to play in the game – the team’s second PPG of the game – tied it up, and Bjugstad and Schmaltz converted on their shootout chances to ice the win.

Arizona and New Jersey don’t face each other again until March 16 at Mullett Arena.

Down on the Farm

Tucson Roadrunners (2-0-0, 4th Place, Pacific Division)

• 2-0-0 Last Week
• Oct. 13: at Texas Stars, 3-2 win
• Oct. 14: at Texas Stars, 2-1 win

The Tucson Roadrunners started their season in strong fashion, starting the season 2-0-0 with two wins over the Texas Stars. Five different players scored for the Roadrunners over the weekend: Josh Doan, Jan Jenik, Dylan Guenther, Maksymilian Szuber, and Milos Kelemen.

Team Leaders

• Points: Jenik (3)
• Goals: Jenik, Guenther, Doan, Kelemen, Szuber (1)
• Assists: Jenik (1)
• GAA: Villalta (1.51)
• SV%: Villalta (.952)

The Sweet Spot

Oct. 13: Nick Schmaltz clinches the Coyotes’ win over the Rangers by scoring in the shootout. The 27-year-old recorded two points in the win, and officially hit two personal milestones: 300 career points, and 200 career assists.

Bear’s Necessities

"We had urgency, we had pace, and if we want to be successful we need to play at a pace where we will disturb the timing of our opponent. That is not easy. That’s a lot of work, that’s a lot of energy night in and night out, but that’s what we have to do. The guys were ready right from the beginning." – André Tourigny on the team’s come-from-behind victory at New Jersey on Friday.

What to Watch For

Monday, Oct. 16 at New York Rangers, 4 pm MST
The Coyotes kick off a busy week against the Rangers, who are 1-1-0 after starting with a season-opening win over the Buffalo Sabres (5-1) before falling to the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3 on Saturday. Monday’s game at Madison Square Garden marks the home opener for the Blueshirts, who finished last season with 107 points before falling to the New Jersey Devils in seven games in the first round of the playoffs.

Chris Kreider has led the charge so far this season, recording three goals and one assist in just two games. Five other Rangers have scored this season: Artemi Panarin, Erik Gustafsson, William Cuylle, Alexis Lafreniere, and Jacob Trouba. Panarin, Adam Fox, and Mika Zibanejad each have three points on the year.

Igor Shesterkin -- who finished eighth in Vezina Trophy voting last season after winning it in 2021-22 -- has started both games to this point, posting a goals-against average of 3.09 and save percentage of .870. Veteran Jonathan Quick is Shesterkin’s backup after signing a one-year deal with the Rangers on July 1, and the 37-year-old two-time Cup winner has a lifetime GAA of 2.47 and SV% of .911.

TV: Scripps Sports (Antenna: 15.2 Phoenix, 9.2 Tucson | Cable: Cox 95 Phoenix, Cox 85/Comcast 1179 Tucson) | Radio: ESPN 620 AM

Tuesday, Oct. 17 at New York Islanders, 4:30 pm MST
The Islanders have played just one game to this point, winning their season opener 3-2 against the Sabres on Saturday. The 1-0-0 start follows a 93-point season last year, in which New York fell to the Carolina Hurricanes in six games in the First Round.

Brock Nelson, Casey Cizikas, and Kyle Palmieri each scored in the season opener, with Nelson also notching an assist to lead the team with two points. Ilya Sorokin earned the win, and looks to build on a successful 2022-23 campaign in which he finished second in Vezina Trophy voting.

The Coyotes won both games against the Islanders last season, 2-0 on Nov. 10, 2022, and 5-4 on Dec. 16, 2022.

TV: Scripps Sports (Antenna: 15.2 Phoenix, 9.2 Tucson | Cable: Cox 95 Phoenix, Cox 85/Comcast 1179 Tucson) | Radio: ESPN 620 AM

Thursday, Oct. 19 at St. Louis Blues, 5 pm MST
Arizona wraps up its season-opening roadtrip against the Central Division rival Blues, who are 1-0-1 following a season-opening shootout loss to the Dallas Stars before winning their home opener 2-1 in a shootout over the Seattle Kraken. The team’s offense has gotten off to a bit of a slow start, as Jordan Kyrou and Tyler Tucker are the only St. Louis Players to find the back of the net through two games.

To make matters worse, winger Pavel Buchnevich exited the team’s game against the Kraken with an upper-body injury, and though the extent of his injury is not yet known, he has not yet returned to practice.

Jordan Binnington has played both games for the Blues this season, posting a sparkling 0.92 GAA and .969 SV%, though the biggest issue so far is he has not received much goal support, with the Blues scoring just two regulation goals in two games. Joel Hofer is the current backup, and has just eight games to his name, including six last season. The 23-year-old netminder has a career GAA of 3.18 and SV% of .900.

The Coyotes finished 2-1-0 against the Blues last season.

TV: Scripps Sports (Antenna: 15.2 Phoenix, 9.2 Tucson | Cable: Cox 95 Phoenix, Cox 85/Comcast 1179 Tucson) | Radio: STREAM ONLY

Saturday, Oct. 21 vs. Anaheim Ducks, 1 pm MST
Saturday’s home opener is against a familiar preseason foe, as the Ducks and Coyotes met three times during the 2023 preseason schedule. Anaheim lost their season-opener 4-1 to the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday, but followed that up with a 6-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in their home opener on Sunday.

The Ducks host the Dallas Stars on Thursday before visiting Mullett Arena on Saturday.

Frank Vatrano, Mason McTavish, and Ryan Strome lead the team with three points apiece; Vatrano has three goals in two games, helping the Ducks to a 1-1-0 start this season.

Anaheim is coming off a 58-point season in 2022-23, but just recently inked star forward Trevor Zegras and defenseman Jamie Drysdale to contracts, clearing the way for them to play in the regular season. The Coyotes finished 1-1-1 against the Ducks last season, with their lone win coming in overtime on April 8, 2023 at Mullett Arena.

TV: Scripps Sports (Antenna: 15.2 Phoenix, 9.2 Tucson | Cable: Cox 95 Phoenix, Cox 85/Comcast 1179 Tucson) | Radio: ESPN 620 AM