Arizona Coyotes: Youth Movement, Domingue Leading The Way For Surprising Coyotes

With the Arizona Coyotes holding a four point buffer for second place in the Pacific Division, the question now turns to the future of Louis Domingue and the Coyotes’ young attack.

Louis Domingue is leading the Arizona Coyotes further and further down the road toward the playoffs, prompting talks of a brewing goalie controversy in Glendale.

His last five games have featured a save percentage no lower than .927, and his calm play in net has emboldened fans and the team in front of him in a way that Mike Smith and Anders Lindback had failed to do since October.

Is he the goalie of the future? It’s too early to say. Domingue’s positioning and poise are giving as much rise to this hope as his stats are, however.

Beyond Louis, the Arizona Coyotes have had a notable impact from the youth of their team. That impact dipped a little over the tail end of 2015, but in 2016 it has kicked up again.

Anthony Duclair has four points in four games, and Tobias Rieder scored two goals last night to extend his career high points total just 41 games into the season.

With six scorers netting 10 or more goals, the team has not been overly reliant on any particular name which bodes well for sustainability. If this score by committee approach holds out for the Arizona Coyotes, they simply need Louis Domingue or whomever is in net to play solid, not spectacular.

Mike Smith’s .901 and Anders Lindback’s .893 from earlier this season won’t cut it, but the current league average save percentage of .916 should more than suffice to ride this momentum into the playoffs.

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About Saturday Night

Arizona Coyotes Shutout Nashville Predators 4-0 [Howlin’ Hockey]

Coyotes, Louis Domingue shut out Predators [AZCentral – Sarah McLellan]

"The Coyotes are playing perhaps their most consistent hockey of the season, wrapping the first half Saturday in second place in the Pacific Division with 46 points after a 4-0 win over the Predators in front of 12,345 at Gila River Arena that kicked off a season-long, seven-game homestand."

Louis Domingue earns second shutout, Arizona Coyotes win 4-0 [Five For Howling – Brendan Porter]

Coyotes Talk

Around The NHL

Alex Ovechkin and his 500 goals, as remembered by the goalies he’s tormented [Washington Post – Stephen Lorenzo & Mike Hume]

"“During the game, he’s definitely a guy that likes to talk to the goalies. I’ve always noticed that. He’s a guy that’s not shy coming around your net letting you know he’s coming to get one. … And obviously he backs it up a lot.” – Carter Hutton, 2 goals allowed"

Connor McDavid to return to Edmonton Oilers lineup Feb. 2 [Edmonton Journal – Jim Matheson]

Next: The Arizona Coyotes Through 40 Games; Team Snapshot And Analysis

After John Scott vote, NHL will limit All-Star Game fan influence: Report [Puck Daddy – Greg Wyshynski]

"“You’re going to see a situation where the League decides if it’s going to be that the fans just have a portion of the vote – not all of the captaincy votes – or could it just be that there’s a list online that you’re going to be able to vote from.”"

Lightning GM Yzerman ‘prepared to trade’ Drouin [NHL.com – David Satriano]

Frustration boils over for Canadiens after latest loss [Sportsnet.ca – Eric Engels]

"It might have been the strongest game Subban had played in over a month, but that was of no consolation to him. “I couldn’t give a s*** about my f****** first goal in however long,” he said. “It doesn’t f****** matter.”"

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