For the past couple of years, the line of Clayton Keller, Barrett Hayton and Nick Schmaltz has been a staple for the Arizona Coyotes’ offense. However, Hayton suffered an upper-body injury which sidelined him for over two months and upon his return to the lineup, the young center was put on a different line as he continued to get healthy. During Wednesday night’s game though when the Coyotes’ offense seemed to be at its worst, coach André Tourigny made a switch putting Hayton alongside Keller and Schmaltz where they instantly clicked. Schmaltz scored a goal quickly after this line was put back together, but it was reversed due to goaltender interference. Despite ultimately losing the game, the potent trio helped elevate not only themselves, but the entire forward group seemed to benefit and raise their game to a higher level once this line change was made. Tourigny described Keller, Hayton and Schmaltz’s chemistry in a perfect way following practice on Friday. 240216_CoachMediaPresser “I think they complement each other really well,” Tourigny said. “I think Keller and Schmaltz have good chemistry to move the puck to each other and find each other. I think Hayton is a little like McBain, they have the same type of game, a lot of pace, a lot of forecheck, they go to the net offensively. There are a lot of similarities between both, so that’s what Keller and Schmaltz need.” Because of history playing together, the Coyotes’ top line had no issues getting back in sink. There is a reason for why these three have battled alongside each other for all of this time. For Hayton, it felt great to rekindle that chemistry. “Before I was injured, I played with them for a while,” Hayton said. “Obviously we built some chemistry and stuff and obviously I’m familiar with their games, so it was good to get some of that chemistry going and thought we did a pretty good job building some momentum…” The Coyotes are currently on a seven-game losing streak, but Keller, Hayton and Schmaltz catching fire and creating an offensive spark may be all the team needs to get back into the win column.
