Yotes Notes: Doan’s Memorable Debut & Frozen Four Approaches

Josh Doan has opened some eyes early in his Coyotes tenure.

The 22-year-old prospect was already set to have a memorable NHL debut considering his father, Shane, was at Mullett Arena to watch it, but few people – if anyone – could predict what happened next: The AHL All-Star and former Arizona State Sun Devils captain scored twice in his debut, helping the Coyotes to a memorable 6-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets last Tuesday.

He followed that up with two assists against the Nashville Predators in another Arizona win, snapping the Preds’ 18-game point streak in the process, and notched another helper against the New York Rangers on Saturday.

Doan became the first player in Coyotes team history to record at least one point in each of his first three games, and he’s third in franchise history behind Anders Steen (1980-81) and Teemu Selanne (1992-92), who both started their careers with a five-game point streak.

Doan is a product of Arizona hockey, including time spent as captain of the Arizona State Sun Devils hockey team in 2022-23. The NCAA has proven to be a reliable training ground for some of the Coyotes’ top prospects, and four Division I teams are left standing in this year’s Frozen Four tournament: Boston College, Michigan, Denver, and Boston University.

Forward Jack McBain spent four seasons with Boston College before making his NHL debut with the Coyotes in 2021-22, while Clayton Keller notched a season with Boston University in 2016-17, where he was named to the All-Rookie Team, Rookie of the Year, Second All-Star Team, and received the Tim Taylor Award as the NCAA’s top collegiate rookie.

“I loved my time there,” Keller said. “It was so much fun. I knew a lot of guys going into it, and we just had such a close team, we hung out every single day.”

McBain has been impressed with Boston College’s season thus far.

“They’ve had such a good year,” he said. “They’ve been fun to watch, and I’ve been following along pretty closely. It’s pretty cool.”

If Boston College and Boston University win their respective semifinal matchups (April 11), they’ll face off with a National Championship on the line.

It should come as no surprise that both McBain and Keller picked their respective former schools to win it all.

One more note – prospect Miko Matikka remains the last Coyotes prospect standing in the NCAA Tournament, and recorded a goal in Denver’s 2-1 win over Cornell in the Second Round.

On to the show!

The Week in Review

Tuesday, March 26 | vs. Columbus Blue Jackets | 6-2 Win
STATS | RECAP

Arizona’s 6-2 win over the Blue Jackets came in front of a raucous crowd at Mullett Arena, as Doan recorded his first two career goals, including what was eventually the game-winner, en route to the win. Matias Maccelli, Nick Bjugstad, Nick Schmaltz, and Dylan Guenther also scored for the Desert Dogs, who won for the second time in three games.

Karel Vejmelka earned the win after stopping 25 of the 27 shots he faced as the Coyotes finished 2-0-0 against the Blue Jackets this season.

Thursday, March 28 | vs. Nashville Predators | 8-4 Win
STATS | RECAP

Arizona fought back from an early 2-0 deficit – both goals came courtesy of former Coyotes forward Jason Zucker – and the Desert Dogs won their second straight game behind Logan Cooley’s first career hat trick. Jack McBain, Clayton Keller, Nick Bjugstad, Nick Schmaltz, and Matias Maccelli also scored in the win, in which Connor Ingram made 33 saves to earn his 20th win of the season.

The Coyotes finished their season series 3-0-1 against the Predators.

Saturday, March 30 | vs. New York Rangers | 8-5 Loss
STATS | RECAP

Arizona consistently battled back in an offensive showcase, erasing two separate two-goal deficits, as well as a three-goal deficit, before the Rangers added two late empty-net goals to secure the win. Cooley added a goal and an assist, and remains one of just two rookies to rank in the top five in goals (17, tied for 4th), assists (22, 5th), and points (39, 4th).

Maccelli, Keller, Bjugstad, and Lawson Crouse also scored in the game, but Alexis Lafreniere’s first career hat trick led New York to its fifth straight win while Jonathan Quick became the winningest US-born goalie in NHL history.

Arizona finished 0-2-0 against New York this season.

Down on the Farm

Tucson Roadrunners (37-22-3-2, 2nd Place, Pacific Division)
- 1-1-0-0 Last Week
- March 29 vs. San Diego Gulls, 4-0 Loss
- March 30 vs. San Diego Gulls, 7-3 Win

The Roadrunners responded well to their leading scorer earning an opportunity with the Coyotes, keeping pace in the jam-packed Pacific Division to maintain their second place position. Though Tucson has clinched a playoff spot, positioning continues to be critical, as seeds 2-4 earn home-ice advantage in the First Round.

The Ontario Reign (79 points) and Colorado Eagles (77 points) remain neck-and-neck with the Roadrunners’ 79 points, and the Eagles have two games in hand. Fifth place Calgary has fallen slightly behind the pack with 76 points, especially considering it has placed two more games than Tucson.

The stretch run is more critical than ever, and will be fun to watch over the remaining eight games.

Team Leaders
• Points: Doan (46)
• Goals: Doan (26)
• Assists Räty (28)
• GAA: Villalta (2.64)
• SV%: Villalta (.909)

Matikka has played a critical role for Denver down the stretch, and has truly made a name for himself in his first season of NCAA play. Now, the Coyotes’ 2022 third-round pick is in the Frozen Four semifinals with a chance to help the Pioneers to their second national championship in three years, though a matchup with 2-seed Boston University looms on April 11.

Denver and Boston have not met yet this season.

Bear’s Necessities

“The way he played, he had a good stick, he played the game the right way, and most importantly for us, we’re talking a lot about going to the net, he was at the net and got a stick on it. We know he’s good at that, and he needs to make a habit out of that if he wants to keep going.” – André Tourigny on Josh Doan’s NHL debut.

What to Watch For

Wednesday, April 2, vs. Vancouver Canucks, 7 pm MST
The Coyotes and Canucks will meet twice within the span of one week to close out their season series after Vancouver won 2-1 on Jan. 18 at Rogers Arena. The Canucks are in the midst of a special season under head coach Rick Tocchet, having already clinched a playoff spot while leading the Pacific Division with 100 points in 74 games.

Vancouver will be playing in the second of back-to-back games after falling 6-3 to the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.

J.T. Miller leads the way with 95 points on 35 goals and 60 assists, while Elias Pettersson (84), Quinn Hughes (84), Brock Boeser (70), and Filip Hronek (46) round out the top five in scoring. Between the pipes, starter Thatcher Demko has not played since sustaining an undisclosed injury on March 9, so Casey DeSmith has taken over starting duties. He’s 11-8-6 with one shutout, a 2.84 goals-against average and .895 save percentage this season, while callup Arturs Silovs is 1-0-0 in his only start this season.

Demko has returned to practice, but he is not expected to be ready to play on Wednesday against the Coyotes.

The Canucks average the sixth-most goals per game (3.44) while allowing the fifth-fewest (2.68). Their power play is 13th in the league at 22.36 percent, and the penalty kill ranks 19th at 79.13 percent.

TV: Arizona 61 | Radio: ESPN 620

Friday, April 5, vs. Vegas Golden Knights, 7 pm MST
Arizona wraps up its final multi-game homestand of the season against the Golden Knights in what will be the third-and-final meeting between the two this season. The Coyotes won 2-0 on Nov. 25 in Vegas, while the Golden Knights won 3-2 at Mullett Arena on Feb. 8.

Vegas has won three straight and six of its last seven, and remains in third place in the Pacific Division with 92 points, five ahead of the fourth-place Los Angeles Kings.

Jonathan Marchessault continues to shine at age 33, leading the Golden Knights with 66 points in 75 games, followed by Jack Eichel (59), William Karlsson (53), Chandler Stephenson (46), and Ivan Barbashev (44).

Logan Thompson has shined by posting a 23-12-5 record with a 2.64 GAA and .911 SV%, while former Coyotes netminder Adin Hill has 18-10-2 with a 2.62 GAA and .914 SV%.

The Golden Knights rank 15th with 3.16 goals-for per game, and allow the 10th-fewest at 2.89. Their power play is 21st in the league with an 18.34 conversion rate, and their penalty kill is 13th with an 80.61 percent success rate.

TV: Arizona 61 | Radio: KTAR News 92.3 FM

Sunday, April 7, at San Jose Sharks, 3 pm MST
The Coyotes and Sharks will face off in a Sunday matinee, in what will be the final game between the two teams this season. Arizona is 2-0-0 against San Jose to this point, winning 1-0 on Dec. 15 in Tempe, and again 5-2 on Dec. 21 in San Jose.

The Sharks have hit a rough patch lately, winning just twice over their last 20 games. One of those wins, though, came against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.

Mikael Granlund leads the team with 51 points, followed by Fabian Zetterlund (38), William Eklund (36), Filip Zadina (23), and Mike Hoffman (22). Between the pipes, Mackenzie Blackwood is 10-22-3 with a 3.41 GAA and .900 SV%, while backup Devin Cooley is 0-1-1 with a 4.62 GAA and .852 SV%. Blackwood has started the last four games for San Jose.

The Sharks average the second-lowest goals per game (2.22) while allowing the most (3.96) in the league. Their power play ranks 18th with a 20.88 conversion rate, while their penalty kill success rate of 75.22 is 28th.

TV: Arizona 61 | Radio: ESPN 620