The players believe their success early on is a carryover from how they ended last season, when they went 17-10-3 in their final 30 games.
"We have a lot of the same faces here (from last season), same coaching staff," forward Derek Stepan said. "There wasn't a lot of changeover, so we were more comfortable. We understand what the coaches want and how they want it done, and that allows us to go out and play our game a little bit easier. Anytime you're more comfortable, you're going to get better results."
The most obvious of those results has been on defense. The Coyotes have allowed 39 goals in 16 games, second-fewest in the NHL behind the Nashville Predators (35). They're allowing 2.44 goals per game (third in NHL), compared to the 4.06 per game after 16 games last season. Their penalty kill is first in the NHL at 91.8 percent, including a League-high nine shorthanded goals (next highest is four), compared to 73.8 percent last season.
Some of that improvement can be attributed to their goalies. Antti Raanta was 5-4-0 with a 2.10 goals-against average and .929 save percentage in nine starts before he was placed on injured reserve Wednesday because of a lower-body injury. Darcy Kuemper, who has started the past four games, is 3-3-1 with a 2.58 GAA and .921 save percentage.
But there's also been a greater commitment from the skaters, especially their younger core, including forwards Clayton Keller, 20, Christian Fischer, 21, Lawson Crouse, 21, and Brendan Perlini, 22.
"I think it's, if you defend you'll get your offensive looks," Stepan said. "If you do the right things without the puck, when the puck comes to you, you'll be in a better spot to have a chance to make a play offensively. I think they're learning."
As the defense continues to solidify, coach Rick Tocchet said he feels comfortable trying different approaches to best utilize his players' offensive gifts.
"I'm an out-of-the-box thinker, so there might be certain things next month we try a little different," Tocchet said. "Because you have the foundation, you can try. If you don't have the foundation you can't try other stuff. I can't go deep in the playbook if the first part of the playbook isn't being executed properly. Our foundation is getting better. Now we can get into the meat of the playbook. We're still not there yet, but that's growth with young guys."
That growth allowed the Coyotes to stay confident even when they started the season 1-4-0, which included being shut out three times. Since then, they are 7-3-1 and averaging 3.73 goals per game.
"There was a lot of talk, 'they haven't scored,' but to me ... I knew we were going to score in bunches," said Perlini, who is one of 12 players with at least two goals for Arizona. "That's how it is in the League, it comes and it goes. I don't think there was any panic."
Playing with the confidence and maturity that was missing at times last season, the Coyotes are hoping to take that next step in their improvement and return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2012.
"We feel we have a competitive group, and every single night we come in and have an expectation to go out and compete," general manager John Chayka said. "We still have to earn the respect and earn that expectation of other teams coming to beat us. For now, we're happy to go in and play hard."
