Arizona Coyotes goalie tandem a foundation for success
Heading into the 2016-17 season, the Arizona Coyotes finally have a pair of NHL-viable goaltenders healthy and on the roster together to start the season.
Last December, Arizona Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith went down with a core muscle injury that was expected to keep him out for an extended period.
There was little faith that backup goalie Anders Lindback could hold the fort for two to three months, and with the bad news many expected to the see the Yotes throw in the towel.
After giving Lindback a shot at backstopping the team, then General Manager Don Maloney recalled young goaltender Louis Domingue from the Springfield Falcons.
Once he arrived, everything changed.
Domingue played out of his mind through the end of December and all of January, earning Rookie of the Month honors from the NHL. His heroics, coupled with solid play from the rest of the team, kept the Arizona Coyotes in the thick of the playoff race into February.
For his work in relief of Mike Smith and Anders Lindback, Louis Domingue was rewarded with a 2-year, $2.1M contract. The youngster had earned himself his first one-way deal. No more bus rides for the foreseeable future.
The old man, Mike Smith? Well, he made a debut of his own at the tail end of last season.
The Mike Smith we saw post-injury was light years from the shell of a goaltender who had worn #41 in net in the first two months of the 2015-16 season.
Smith took the net in 10 games between March and April, putting up a save percentage of .931 or greater in seven of those ten contests.
For some time, the knock on Smith has been consistency. Few doubt that when he’s on his game, he is a certifiable “brick wall”. The team has rarely had viable options behind him, however, so they live or die with Smith’s confidence.
In his half season as the Arizona Coyotes starting goaltender, Louis Domingue showed that he can be the guy who steps in and maybe even goes on a tear of his own.
Perhaps he too suffers from some inconsistent play, but combined and healthy the tandem should provide the Yotes a goaltending battery that is capable of keeping them in games and perhaps pushing them into a playoff seed.
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