Strome Shining in Face-Off Circles

GLENDALE -The Coyotes are out-shooting opponents by more than 13 shots per game after three games this season. A key to that noteworthy stat has been puck possession, triggered, in part, by the team's nearly 52 percent success rate in the face-off circles.
"If you can be a real strong face-off guy in the NHL, there's jobs open for those guys," Head Coach Rick Tocchet said. "If you get possession of that puck six, seven extra times in your offensive zone, that's a lot. That's a big part of it."

Center Dylan Strome is leading the way for Arizona in the face-off circles, and ranked fourth in the NHL (before Thursday's games) at 69.2 percent (27 wins, 12 losses) overall and 68.4 percent in the offensive zone (13 wins, six losses).
Tocchet has been impressed by Strome's performance in the first three games, especially his effort on Wednesday night at Anaheim. Strome skated a career-high 17:28, scored Arizona's first goal and won 10 of 14 draws in a 3-2 shootout win.
"Since I've been here, the few times that Dylan's played for us, that's probably been his best game," Tocchet said. "He looked engaged (and) he was stopping on pucks. I like his game. He's still got a ways to go, but he's getting better every game. If he continues with our concepts, that's the type of player he can be for us … He's won some big face-offs for us and it's really helped their line for possession."

Strome won just 43.0 percent of his draws in 21 games last season. He knew heading into this season that improvement in the circles was needed if he wanted to be on NHL ice in key situations late in games.
"I've just been trying new things," Strome said. "You've got to know who you're playing against and know what their tendencies are or what they like to do, or if they're strong, or if they're quick, or whatever. I think it's just a byproduct of doing a little bit of research or knowing who you're playing against."
Strome won five of six face-offs vs. Anaheim's Ryan Kesler on Wednesday. That's quite a feat for Strome, considering Kesler has won 54.3 percent of his draws over his 942-game NHL career.
"Obviously, if you can win draws you will gain the trust of your coaches more, and the more draws you win the more they will want you out there," Strome said. "If you can do that then you will get more ice time and opportunity. It's a big part of the game … Whenever you can get the coaches' confidence it's obviously huge. But we're only three games into the season so I've got to keep it up and keep doing good on those face-offs."
Strome has been skating with wingers Lawson Crouse and Mario Kempe. The three were teammates with Tucson of the American Hockey League last season. Strome credits them, and all the wingers he's played with, for successfully executing plays on his draws.
"It's not only centers who win face-offs, it's our wingers, too, and they've been doing a great job of helping me out and making me feel more comfortable," Strome said. "It's nice to just focus on the draw and have confidence in your wingers, knowing that they're going to go get (the puck)."