The Arizona Coyotes began their 2023-24 campaign on the road against the New Jersey Devils and ended up stealing a win in the Prudential Center. Not only did the Coyotes get a 4-3 shootout victory, but there were plenty of positives to take away from the game as well. Despite only one of 82 total games being played for the Arizona club, this season is looking to be a step in the right direction, after many years of alarming on and off-ice decisions.

Veteran free agent signing defenseman Matt Dumba scored the only goal of the first period to give Arizona a 1-0 lead over the Devils. However, the next 20 minutes were quite entertaining. Trade acquisition defenseman Sean Durzi gave the Coyotes a 2-0 lead, with Clayton Keller getting his second point of the night and rookie Logan Cooley registering his first-ever NHL point. Fresh off of a new eight-year contract, Jesper Bratt got New Jersey on the board to cut Arizona’s lead in half. Dougie Hamilton then evened the score on the powerplay about three minutes later. Bratt ended the period with another goal to give the home team a 3-2 advantage heading into the third. Nick Schmaltz tied the game up, yet again, with a phenomenal pass from Cooley, giving the former third-overall pick his second point of his career. With no other shots going into the back of the net in the third period, the game headed to overtime.

There was no action is the five minutes of overtime, so the two teams headed for a shootout to finish up Arizona’s season opener. Goaltender Karel Vejmelka stopped Timo Meier on the first attempt, the same could not be said for Akira Schmid when it came to Nick Bjugstad. Vejmelka, yet again, did not allow a New Jersey goal, this time attempted by Bratt. After scoring the tying goal in the third period, Schmaltz was called upon for the potential game winner. He got the puck past Schmid, which allowed the Coyotes to take a surprising win home.

By no means are the Coyotes expected to have a great season and add a playoff run, but this game gave a small glimpse into what the future could look like. Cooley seems to be an extraordinary addition already, Keller is off to yet another hot start, and Schmaltz was arguably the best player on the ice for Arizona on Friday. While the Central Division is going to be tough to break in to the top three because of the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, and Minnesota Wild, the Coyotes can definitely at least have some fun this year. The team needs to continue to develop its young talent so, hopefully, it can be a contender like New Jersey in the near future.