After losing three games in a row, the upstart Arizona Coyotes have come back strongly by defeating three quality teams.
This can only lead to more confidence to win more games.
Whenever you can take down strong teams like the Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators and the St. Louis Blues, you've got to feel pretty darned good about yourself as a team.
The Coyotes did just that, and the first two games were on the road.
That's HUGE.
Comeback win in Minnesota started it all
The Coyotes looked horrible in the first game of this three game stretch when they fell behind 3-1, only to score three unanswered goals in the third period to snatch the victory from the jaws of possible defeat from a pretty darned good team.
The Wild going into that game were 14-7-2 and since that loss to the Desert Dogs has lost two additional games to give them an uninspiring three-game losing streak.
The Coyotes against all odds won the game with just 14 shots on Devan Dubnyk and a mediocre ONE shot on net in the middle frame.
That's some quality shooting and Josh Archibald had the game of his season (or career) with two goals and an assist good for a three-point night... a night he'll surely remember.
It was also the first game for newly acquired forward Nick Schmaltz. He played well and seems to be fitting in with his new teammates.
So well in fact that he has yet to lose a game with his new team. He's played three games... all victories for the Coyotes.
With starter Antti Raanta going down with yet another lower-body injury (can we get this guy some lower body armor?) Adin Hill called up from the AHL Tucson Roadrunners came in tamed the Wild by shutting them down.
On to Nashville where they win again
It may be one thing to pull off a come from behind win in Minnesota, but could that confidence build enough going into Nashville a team with an even better record than the Wild?
ABSOLUTELY.
Going into that game the Preds sported a 17-7-1 record and then there's the fact that the team had to face Veniza Trophy winner Pekka Rinne in net.
That didn't seem to phase the Coyotes as they took down the Preds in an easy fashion for the second time this season by a 3-0 score.
The aforementioned Hill shutout the Preds and that's not an easy task seeing that they average 3.26 goals a game.
In this contest, the Coyotes got goals from Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, and Brad Richardson to pace the team.
It was Schmaltz's first goal as a Coyote and it was a beauty.
This young man has some skills and he has really made an impact on the Coyotes' offense... just what they needed.
The St. Louis Blues visit the desert
The Coyotes had to be thinking of their horrible record against the Blues but it really didn't show when the puck was dropped. The Blues have dominated the Coyotes over the last five seasons carrying a 11-3-1 record against them.
This game was different.
Six different Coyotes scored in this romp as the home-team Yotes blasted the Blues 6-1. Schmaltz collected two assists giving him one goal, three assists in the three games he has appeared in since being traded to the desert by the Chicago Blackhawks.
He assisted on this goal by Keller who ripped a bullet by Chad Johnson before he could react. That's three straight goals for Keller who had been in a scoring drought but is a very streaky scorer.
Can they make it four straight?
The team gets to rest a bit before heading to play the rival Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night in Tinseltown.
The Kings are having some real challenges this season struggling to a 10-16-1 record and the Coyotes need to continue the Kings' woes.
The big question will be is Raanta recovered enough to play or does head coach Rick Tocchet start Hill again who is on roll?
The team will be without forward Michael Grabner who suffered a nasty eye injury with a high-stick to his face. He is out indefinitely. The team may insert forward Mario Kempe in his place for the L.A. game.
Confidence is prevailing, so use it
This team has won three straight games against three good teams. They need to use that confidence to their advantage and keep rolling along. They have three games in hand against the Vegas Golden Knights who are one point out of a wild-card spot.
Now is the time to act.
This team is showing signs of being ready to really take off and be a playoff caliber team.
The pieces are falling into place... it's time to DOMINATE!
Will the Arizona Coyotes continue their excellent play of late? Can they make a move to get into a playoff spot? Let us know in the comments section below.