Despite being under 50% puck possession in six of their last eight games, going through a stretch where they blew a lead in three straight games, and losing twice to the Minnesota Wild in a week, the Coyotes are somehow in second place in the pacific.
Not too shabby.
Amazing goaltending will have that effect.
It also has it's costs, as last night's game will attest.
The Coyotes tied the game at 2's and things looked good for at least a point, but the Wild scored on one of their only five shot-attempts in the third period to take the lead.
And that number includes a power play (where they scored on their only shot attempt).
It was a complete domination from Arizona in the third but they just couldn't get it done.
What can you do? Hockey is a funny game.
The Coyotes lost twice to the Wild - who are one of the NHL's worst teams - but those two losses were book-ended by two victories against two of the best teams in the league.
But to make it even weirder, both those victories were coin-flip shootout wins, and the Blues absolutely put on a clinic for how to lose a game you 100% deserved to win.
If I had to make a comparison to the Coyotes it would be to the New York Islanders.
The Coyotes are 20th in the NHL in Corsi, the Islanders are 30th.
The Islanders are 28th in shot-share, while the Coyotes are 14th.
The Islanders are first in save percentage.
The Coyotes are fourth.
Both teams are winning games they have no business winning.
Adjusted for games played, the Islanders are the second best team in the NHL while the Coyotes are seventh.
History tells us that a goalie's 5v5 save percentage has an absolutely massive effect on winning hockey games.
If this was a repeatable achievement in anyway, Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby and Wayne Gretzky wouldn't be the NHL's best all-time players - the best players would be goalies.
A goalie who could consistently save 94% of the shots would be like having two McDavids.
Since that is clearly not the case, there is no way that Tomas Griess, Darcy Keumper et al will continue their level of play.
It is just not feasible.
The Coyotes and Islanders might get lucky long enough to make the playoffs. But if we're to look at the standings and go by point percentage, they're the second and seventh best teams in the NHL.
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