GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Better coverage in the defensive zone was the order of the day for the Coyotes when they took the ice Tueday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Arizona entered the game dead last in the NHL in goals against average (3.66) and save percentage (.875).
"We've got lots of room to improve," captain Shane Doan said.
The best defensive zone coverage comes from not playing in your zone. The Coyotes did that for the game's first 28 minutes, holding the Leafs to just five shots on goal with an effective forecheck and smart decisions with the puck that allowed them to dominate possession.
That was enough to snap Toronto's three-game winning streak and start a modest two-game winning streak of their own with a 3-2 win at Gila River Arena.
"The first couple periods, we weren't giving up much at all," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. "The third period got a little ragged ... but for the most part it was an improvement."
Among the positives:
-- Goalie Mike Smith had another strong performance with 28 saves. Smith posted a save percentage of better than .914 for the fifth time in his last six starts (four of those were .923 or better).
-- Sam Gagner scored for the second straight game and looked at home on a line with wings Mikkel Boedker and Lauri Korpikoski that brought a lot of speed to the ice.
-- Brandon Gormley didn't look overmatched or hesitant in his first game since his call-up. He took a second-period penalty that led to a Toronto power-play goal when he over-committed to the wing. But as a third-pairing defenseman, he logged an effective 9:43 on the ice and could keep Chris Summers and David Schlemko out of the lineup.
-- Forward Martin Erat surpassed his goal total from all of last season (three) when he circled the net and banked a puck off defenseman Stephane Robidas' skate for his fourth of the season. Erat has emphasized how last season was an anomaly that he has already put behind him, so when a reporter asked him if it felt good to be scoring again after a disastrous 2013-14 season, he quipped: "What happened last year?"
There were a few tense moments late in the game. Toronto pulled within a goal on Cody Franson's power play goal with 6:07 remaining and the Leafs ended up firing 30 shots on net. The Coyotes' penalty-killing unit has allowed seven goals on opponents' last 16 chances and at least one power play goal in the last five games.
But the Coyotes clamped down and Smith shut the door.
"You know what? You play the right way and you get those bounces and as a group we understood that," Smith said. "We talked about our identity, what we need to do to be in hockey games and have a chance to win, and tonight we did that for a more consistent time, and we earned some bounces."
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