Friday Four: Coyotes picking up steam

Each Friday throughout the season Kevin Weekes will bring you his Friday Four. He will be blogging about four players, teams, plays, or trends that have caught his eye.

Arizona Coyotes

Even though they lost 4-2 to the Washington Capitals on Thursday, the Coyotes have won four of their past five games and are playing very well. Arizona Coyotes outscored opponents 15-5 during the winning streak, including road wins against the Minnesota Wild and Nashville Predators.
They did it without starting goalie Antti Raanta and backup Darcy Kuemper, each out with a lower-body injury. Third-stringer Adin Hill has been great for them; the 22-year-old rookie has made an impact with a 4-1-0 record, 1.09 goals-against average, .957 save percentage and one shutout. I remember former goalie coach Sean Burke telling me about him years ago. There is zero panic in Hill's game, and he inspires a lot of confidence.
Center Nick Schmaltz has played well since he was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks on Nov. 25. He has five points (two goals, three assists) in five games and adds a different dynamic to the team.
The penalty kill continues to sparkle. Even without forward Michael Grabner, who is out with an eye injury, they have 11 shorthanded goals and lead the NHL with a penalty-killing percentage of 90.1.

William Nylander

Nylander, a restricted free agent, agreed to terms with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday and made his season debut Thursday. Nylander, who had no points in 12:29 of ice time in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings, had 61 points in each of the past two seasons and gives Toronto another scoring threat.
It may take the 22-year-old forward a few games to get up to speed, though he had been practicing in Europe before coming to terms with Toronto. Nylander played on a line with Patrick Marleau and Auston Matthews on Thursday. Considering the Maple Leafs were 20-8-0 without him and are four points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for first place in the Atlantic Division, Nylander's addition can only help their quest for the Stanley Cup.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Don't look now, but the Penguins have won four of six and are in third place in the Metropolitan Division. They are, of course, led by their horses, centers Sidney Crosby (32 points; 15 goals, 17 assists) and Evgeni Malkin (33 points; 10 goals, 23 assists) and forward Phil Kessel (33 points; 12 goals, 21 assists). Also, defenseman Kris Letang is having an all-star season with 24 points (seven goals, 17 assists) in 26 games.
Pittsburgh acquired forward Tanner Pearson in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings for forward Carl Hagelin on Nov. 14; Pearson has five points (three goals, two assists) in 11 games with the Penguins after having one point in 17 games with the Kings.
Though there has been talk that Pittsburgh might trade Kessel, I think that would be a bad decision. He was a huge reason they won the Stanley Cup in 2016 and 2017. How many guys would be a point-per-game player on the same team with Crosby and Malkin without playing on the same line as either of them? Not many. The Penguins may have some issues, but Kessel definitely isn't one of them.

Vegas Golden Knights

It's evident defenseman Nate Schmidt has a huge impact on the Golden Knights; they are 8-2-0 in 10 games since he returned from a suspension for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program. Schmidt has averaged 22:11 of ice time and had two goals and an assist Tuesday in a 5-3 win against his former team, the Washington Capitals, that must have been especially sweet for him.
Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, 34, seemingly has found the fountain of youth. He is tied for the NHL lead with 16 wins (Frederik Andersen, Toronto Maple Leafs) and leads the League with five shutouts to go with a 2.43 GAA and.912 save percentage. Fleury and the rest of the Golden Knights are out to prove last season was no fluke and after a tough start, they have rebounded nicely.
Forward Max Pacioretty has 13 points (eight goals, five assists) in his past nine games and forward Alex Tuch is nearly a point-per game player with 21 (nine goals, 12 assists) in 22 games. Those two have been nice complements to center Jonathan Marchessault, center William Karlsson and forward Reilly Smith, the big three from last season.