Fans Want Dubnyk, Tippett Wants Smith

A couple days ago, Howlin’ Hockey put out a poll to the public regarding who everyone would  like to see as the starting goaltender for tonight’s game against the Edmonton Oilers. The results are in and they are indeed surprising. We asked if you wanted to see backup Devan Dubnyk between the pipes after his 3-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings or if you wanted to see starter Mike Smith after his 6-2 loss against the Winnipeg Jets. With 140 participated voters, Devan Dubnyk received 91 votes and Mike Smith received 49. That is a 65% to 35% split respectively. Fans want to see Devan Dubnyk battle his old team tonight and ride out his hot glove after his performance against the Kings.

Unfortunately for a majority of the fans who voted, their wish will not be granted tonight. Yesterday, Dave Tippett announced that Mike Smith will be the starting goaltender against the Edmonton Oilers:

There will be plenty of times for Dubnyk to battle against his former team, so no need to worry about that. This move is all about regaining Smith’s confidence after his shaky start. It has been almost a week since his performance against Winnipeg so expect him to have a different mindset going in against Edmonton. After talks with Sean Burke, Mike Smith is ready to prove to his fans that his first game was simply a fluke and that there is promise moving forward.