The 2003–04 Phoenix Coyotes season was their eighth season in the National Hockey League, the franchise's 25th season in the NHL and 32nd overall. For the second year in a row, the Coyotes failed to make the playoffs. It would be the first season the franchise would have playing their home games at the Glendale Arena. However, because the Glendale Arena didn't open until December 26, the first 13 home games were played at America West Arena. The Coyotes went 5–14–5–4 for 19 points in their new home stadium.
Off-season
Defenseman and team captain Teppo Numminen was traded to the Dallas Stars on July 22. Forward Shane Doan was named his replacement on the eve of training camp.
Regular season
Though the Coyotes finished last in their division (13th in the Conference), for a remarkable span in late December and early January, the team attracted the attention of the sports world, as goaltender Brian Boucher set an NHL record for consecutive shutouts. From December 31 to January 9, Boucher and the Coyotes recorded five consecutive shut-out victories, outscoring their opponents 18–0 during the span. The streak was broken on January 11 in a game against the visiting Atlanta Thrashers, when Randy Robitaille scored on Boucher at 6:16 of the first period. Boucher's streak lasted 332:01, surpassing Montreal Canadiens goaltender Bill Durnan's 1949 record by over 20 minutes.
The Coyotes struggled after the streak, winning only six of their remaining 40 games. A winless streak of 15 games from February 21 to March 21 is the third longest in franchise history and the longest since the franchise moved to Arizona in 1996. Head coach Bob Francis was fired on February 24 and replaced by assistant coach Rick Bowness, who served as interim head coach for the remainder of the season and throughout the 2004–05 NHL lockout.
Final standings
Schedule and results
|- align=center bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |1||W||October 10, 2003||2–1 OT||align=left|St. Louis Blues (2003–04)||1–0–0–0 || |- align=center bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |2||W||October 12, 2003||2–0||align=left|@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2003–04)||2–0–0–0 || |- align=center bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |3||W||October 15, 2003||2–1||align=left|@ Florida Panthers (2003–04)||3–0–0–0 || |- align="center" bgcolor="#FFBBBB" |4||L||October 16, 2003||1–5||align=left|@ Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04)||3–1–0–0 || |- align=center bgcolor="#FFBBBB" |5||L||October 18, 2003||4–5||align=left|Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04)||3–2–0–0 || |- align=center bgcolor="#FFBBBB" |6||L||October 23, 2003||4–5||align=left|Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)||3–3–0–0 || |- align=center |7||T||October 25, 2003||4–4 OT||align=left|@ San Jose Sharks (2003–04)||3–3–1–0 || |- align=center |8||T||October 26, 2003||3–3 OT||align=left|@ Vancouver Canucks (2003–04)||3–3–2–0 || |- align=center |9||T||October 28, 2003||2–2 OT||align=left|Chicago Blackhawks (2003–04)||3–3–3–0 || |- align=center bgcolor="#FFBBBB" |10||L||October 31, 2003||1–4||align=left|Vancouver Canucks (2003–04)||3–4–3–0 || |-
|- align=center bgcolor="#FFBBBB" |11||L||November 1, 2003||3–7||align=left|@ Los Angeles Kings (2003–04)||3–5–3–0 || |- align=center bgcolor="#FFBBBB" |12||L||November 6, 2003||1–2||align=left|@ Colorado Avalanche (2003–04)||3–6–3–0 || |- align=center bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |13||W||November 8, 2003||4–3 OT||align=left|Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2003–04) ||4–6–3–0 || |- align=center bgcolor="#FF6F6F" |14||OTL||November 9, 2003||1–2 OT||align=left|@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2003–04) ||4–6–3–1 || |- align=center bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |15||W||November 13, 2003||3–2 OT||align=left|Colorado Avalanche (2003–04)||5–6–3–1 || |- align=center |16||T||November 14, 2003||3–3 OT||align=left|@ Dallas Stars (2003–04)||5–6–4–1 || |- align=center |17||T||November 16, 2003||2–2 OT||align=left|@ Columbus Blue Jackets (2003–04)||5–6–5–1 || |- align=center bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |18||W||November 19, 2003||5–4||align=left|St. Louis Blues (2003–04)||6–6–5–1 || |- align=center bgcolor="#FFBBBB" |19||L||November 21, 2003||0–5||align=left|San Jose Sharks (2003–04)||6–7–5–1 || |- align=center bgcolor="#FFBBBB" |20||L||November 23, 2003||0–1||align=left|@ Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04)||6–8–5–1 || |- align=center bgcolor="#FFBBBB" |21||L||November 24, 2003||2–5||align=left|@ Dallas Stars (2003–04)||6–9–5–1 || |- align=center bgcolor="#CCFFCC" |22||W||November 27, 2003||6–4||align=left|Los Angeles Kings (2003–04)||7–9–5–1 || |- align=center |23||T||November 30, 2003||3–3 OT||align=left|@ Boston Bruins (2003–04)||7–9–6–1 || |-
