While scoring is up across the NHL this season, the Arizona Coyotes have yet to get in on the fun.

Through five games this season, the Coyotes have produced a total of three goals - none of which have come at five-on-five play. While the league average for goals per game sits at 3.12 through 89 games this year, the Coyotes own a 0.6 average – no other team in the NHL is averaging less than two. They have been a dream matchup for opposing goaltenders, who have posted a .983 save percentage and a total of three shutouts this season. 

The Coyotes enter Thursday night's game against the Chicago Blackhawks with a 1-4 record thanks to a 3-2 shootout win over the Anaheim Ducks on Oct. 10 in which they scored both a shorthanded and power-play goal. The Blackhawks are averaging 4.4 goals per goal this season and present a daunting task for the Coyotes struggling offence. 

The goal drought, however, does not appear to be for a lack of opportunities; Arizona sits fourth in shots per game – one place back of the Blackhawks – with an average of 35.6 per night.
 

Top Five NHL Teams in Shots per Game - 2018-19 Season

Team Shots/GP Goals for/GP Point %
CAR 42 3.57 0.643
SJS 38.5 2.83 0.417
CHI 36.8 4.4 0.800
ARI 35.6 0.6 0.200
DAL 34.5 3 0.500

They threw 32 shots on Minnesota Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk on Tuesday night, but suffered a 2-1 loss with their lone goal of the night coming on a first-period power play.

"Once again, we scored one goal. We've got to score some goals," Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet said after the loss. "We had some opportunities there, a couple point-blankers and we didn't put them in... There are some empty nets there. I don't know what else to say. I mean, the play is there, put (the puck) in, you put it in. There's no secret."

Perhaps most frustrating for the Coyotes is their statistical success in all other aspects of the game. They're the fifth-best possesion team in the league - with a score adjusted Corsi of 56.8 per cent - sit fourth in goals allowed per game at just 2.2,  and boast a 91.7 per cent success rate on the penalty kill. 

“When you only score one goal or you get shut out, everything gets magnified,” general manager John Chayka told 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station on Wednesday. “When we look at our group, we wanted to have great defence which so far we’ve had. We wanted to have elite goaltending, which we’ve gotten, and we wanted to score some timely goals.

“Obviously, two-for-three isn’t good enough.”

The Coyotes don’t have a single player on their team with more than one point this season and Chayka admitted Thursday the team is "squeezing their sticks" as they try to keep up with the rest of the league. He said that with all else failing, the team will have to get to the dirty areas to find their finish.

“We can kind of go a little deeper and know that we’re not only out-shooting but we are out-chancing and we’re getting quality opportunities,” he said. “I don’t think it’s an issue of quality of shots. Having said that, anytime you get in a funk like this… you got to get bodies to the net, you got to get traffic, get second and third opportunities, get some ugly ones and then kind of roll from there.”

Help does appear to be on the way for the Coyotes with forward Alex Galchenyuk, acquired in an off-season trade with the Montreal Canadiens, joining the team on their current road trip. A former 30-goal scorer, Galchenyuk is expected to make his season debut in the near future. He posted 19 goals and 51 points in 82 games last season, but the Coyotes said Wednesday they can't look for him to be their saviour.

“It’s not fair to Alex,” Tocchet told the Athletic. “He’s going to be a piece. He’s got a hell of a shot. We can use those shots right now but we don’t all just sit back when Alex comes back. That [would be] the worst thing. We shouldn’t be sitting back anyway. We’re 1-4.”

“I don’t think he’s going to turn it around by himself but a couple different looks and a couple different options on the power play is going to help,” captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson added. “He’s a big shot and a skilled guy for us. It will be nice when he comes back.”

Defenceman Jakob Chychrun, who averaged 20 minutes of ice time per game last season, is also trending towards a return in early November. The outlook appears less optimistic, though, for centre Christian Dvorak, who finished third on the team in scoring last season. Chayka said Wednesday that Dvorak sustained a new injury while rehabbing his lower-body injury and is without a timetable for return.

One positive for the Coyotes entering Thursday's game? The Blackhawks sit second in the league in goals allowed per game this season, giving up an average of 4.2 through five games with Cam Ward in net. Arizona, however, will be the first team to face Corey Crawford in more than 10 months as he returns to the crease from a concussion.