The Coyotes finished 2022-23 with a 21-15-5 record at The Mullett, marking their best home record since the 2015-16 season (22-15-4). Arizona beat nine of the 16 teams that qualified for the NHL Playoffs in Tempe, including the Colorado Avalanche, Toronto Maple Leafs, Minnesota Wild, Tampa Bay Lightning, Los Angeles Kings, Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights, New York Islanders, and Boston Bruins - who lost just 12 games in regulation all season.
Turns out the first season at Mullett Arena was a special one, indeed. Forward Lawson Crouse said the Coyotes took pride in playing in front of their fans every day, and the team used every advantage it could.
"Our crowd played a big part, coming, filling that rink and giving us the atmosphere," he said. "The crowd made it very entertaining for us, personally, and hopefully we did the same for them. Our record was a combination of teams coming in not knowing what to expect, and we used that to our advantage.
"The fans did a good job of making it a tough atmosphere to play in."
Tweet from @ArizonaCoyotes: CROUSER WITH THE GAME-WINNING GOAL! pic.twitter.com/g6AVMHQzDU
Crouse scored the game-winning goal in the aforementioned win over the Bruins -- his second of the game -- with just 14 seconds remaining, creating an instant memory for the players and fans alike. Forward Matias Maccelli earned one of his rookie-leading 38 assists on the goal, while Josh Brown and Nick Schmaltz both found the back of the net as well.
There were plenty more milestones at The Mullett, too.
Both Schmaltz and Clayton Keller recorded their first-career hat tricks in front of their hometown fans; Keller, in fact, notched two hat tricks at Mullett Arena en route to his 86-point season, which tied a 26-year-old Coyotes record set by Keith Tkachuk in 1996-97.
Keller and Schmaltz combined for 144 points this season, and 83 of those came at home.
"It's different, it feels smaller, it might be a little bit different feel than other NHL rinks," Schmaltz said. "We took pride in playing there, and we did a really good job."
Tweet from @ArizonaCoyotes: THE GAME-WINNING, OVERTIME, HAT TRICK GOAL pic.twitter.com/XwQS8PZalQ
Collectively, the Coyotes scored 24 more goals at home this season compared to the year prior (127 vs. 103) while allowing 13 fewer (141 vs. 154).
That magic was evident all the way into the last game of the season, when Arizona rallied from a 4-1 deficit to force overtime against the Vancouver Canucks. The Coyotes clawed back into the game with goals from Schmaltz, Travis Boyd, and Liam O'Brien, and although they ultimately lost in the extra frame, the energy created by fans during the game wasn't just apparent.
It was palpable.
"I'll be completely honest with you, it's the first year since I've been here that when you score a goal you get the crowd behind you, and you get momentum," forward Christian Fischer said. "It happened [against the Canucks] in the game. You feel it and you feed off that energy."
The Coyotes fully embraced the atmosphere at Mullett Arena, especially after starting the season with 20 of 24 games on the road.
In the end, the old adage rang clear: There's no place like home.
