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Mike Smith Gets Back-To-Backs: New York Islanders Game Day

By Catherine Silverman

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Mike Smith is back in net, because he NEVER LEAVES.

Dear Mike Smith,

I get it. This has been a tough season.

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The All-Time 25 Games or Less Nashville Predators Lineup /

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    • You know what? I hate seeing you struggle, I really do. It sucks, because regression is a magical and mystifying thing and it’s completely a coincidence that yours came the same year that the team introduced all the new players to the lineup. No one could have known how that was going to turn out ahead of time, not even Don Maloney.

    This doesn’t mean I don’t miss Devan Dubnyk, though — while he’s off getting shutouts galore and being heralded as the hero Minnesota apparently deserved, you’re sitting here starting every game Arizona will ever play for the rest of the season.

    I also get it — back to backs are no fun.

    As a player, back-to-backs kind of suck for a number of reasons. You’re exhausted but wired from the game, then you’re expected to take that into the next day and play one hundred percent? Hard enough for a skater, but as a goalie that’s even tougher. There’s no time to clear your mind.

    It’s okay, though. Here’s why:

    1. Lucas Lessio is thisclose to scoring again.

    During Monday night’s 3-0 shutout loss to the New Jersey Devils, Lessio was robbed by Cory Schneider on a point-blank goal opportunity.

    He’s a little melodramatic, and he’s still kind of young — but if there’s anything Lucas Lessio has, it’s determination to turn this season into his own personal Disney movie. Chances are, he’ll try his best to get that kind of opportunity again tonight, and Chad Johnson is one of the few goalies in the NHL having a worse season than you. Hopefully, he’ll be able to put the puck in the back of the net tonight, and we can all go home happy.

    2. Mark Arcobello is due for another goal.

    It’s been a full game. He has to score again soon.

    3. Dylan Reese is playing against his first-ever NHL team, and who doesn’t love a feel-good storyline?

    Hockey is a weird sport; I can spout stats all day long, but games will still take inexplicable turns.

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    Looking back at the Blackhawks' trades involving Andrew Ladd
    Looking back at the Blackhawks' trades involving Andrew Ladd /

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    • The Arizona Coyotes will still take games in regulation over the Montreal Canadiens but get blown out by the Ottawa Senators; the Boston Bruins will still drop six straight games then turn around and take home 6-2 victories over the Chicago Blackhawks for no real reason other than arena atmosphere voodoo.

    Dylan Reese has played all but three of the seventy-seven NHL games in his career with the New York Islanders, and he’s one of the handful of Coyotes players who’s getting to spend some time close to home on this road trip.

    For his NHL debut with the Coyotes, I can see him turning up the heat in a stupidly symbolic matchup — add in that Mark Arcobello is a Connecticut native (and therefore probably either an Islanders or a Bruins fan, just because that’s how geography works and I refuse to believe anything different), and this is quite the homecoming for the Coyotes newcomers.

    I don’t think the Islanders will be an easy matchup, but Mike Smith can rest easy — there are plenty of New England/North-east United States skaters being iced in front of him tonight, wanting to make all in attendance proud and envious.

    Game Day Notes:

    – Devan Dubnyk is set to start again for the Minnesota Wild again tonight, as he attempts to beat the Edmonton Oilers once again (something he loves to do more than anything else). Hockey Central has predicted that if he secures the playoff spot for Minnesota, they could push to sign him in the next week or two.

    – Arizona Coyotes have reported, per TVA’s Renaud Lavoie, that a deal involving Zbynek Michalek had to be put on hold because of his current injury. Expect, if he’s able to make a quick recovery, to potentially see that deal set in motion once again.

    – London Knight’s winger Mitch Marner, linemate of Coyotes prospects Max Domi and Christian Dvorak, has been named the OHL Player of the Week for the third time this season (announced when he became the first OHL skater to hit 100 points this season). He’s the first player to receive the honor three times in a single season since Tyler Toffoli did it in 2010-2011, and he’s the first member of the London Knights to hit 100 points in a single season since John Tavares did it in 2008-2009.

    – Keith Yandle‘s thirty-six assists — which put him tied for second in the league in assists by defensemen — have also put him four assists away from eighth on the all-time leaderboard for the Arizona Coyotes in that statistic. That’s with a quarter of the season remaining.

    – This morning, the New York Islanders signed defenseman Nick Leddy to a seven-year contract extension, worth an AAV of $5.5 million. It will carry through the end of the 2022-2023 season, when Leddy will be thirty-one.

    IN GOAL FOR ARIZONA: MIKE SMITH
    IN GOAL FOR NEW YORK: CHAD JOHNSON

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