Fansided

Arizona Coyotes Max Domi Scores In Hometown Debut

By William Grigsby |

Max Domi has already experienced scoring his first NHL goal in his first NHL game, and now he trumped that by scoring in his first game in his native Toronto.

To top things off he had his father, mother, and sister at the game to cheer him on. It seems this is already turning into a dream season for the young prospect, and they’ve only played nine games. Perhaps the next dream would be to lead the league in scoring for rookies…oh yeah, he’s doing that too.

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With four goals and six assists in nine games, Domi is living the NHL dream. He tied his line-mate Martin Hanzal for the team lead in scoring. Hanzal assisted on Domi’s opening power play goal, but then got injured and did not return after the opening stanza. Per Head Coach Dave Tippett he will be day-to-day to return to the lineup and continue his torrid rate of 10 assists in nine games, or a 1.11 points per game ratio.

That puts the team two centers short, with Antoine Vermette out with an injury which won’t get him back in the lineup until maybe Friday against the Canucks. Tyler Gaudet just called up from Springfield filled in nicely, and made some decent plays and hits in the game.

When Domi entered the ice for pre-game warmups he was the first one out on the ice, and the team pranked him by making him skate around by himself for a good 30 seconds. Mike Smith stopped the line, and Domi knew he was getting pranked, and really expected it to happen earlier in the season. Instead they waited until his debut in front of the local Toronto fans to pull the stunt.

It had to be a thrill for the exceptional forward to be playing in front of his hometown fans, and family. He didn’t disappoint (and really hasn’t yet this young season) as he has done so many times in the past eight games by losing the puck momentarily, and then fighting to retrieve it, and snapping a quick missile which the goalie couldn’t stop. Coach Tippett has been encouraging him to shoot more, and think about it less, and the results have been some awesome forehand and backhand bullet shots which find the net.

The game wound up being closer than it should have been, when the Maple Leafs pulled off a third period comeback, scoring two goals to try to make up for a three goal hole they dug for themselves. Shane Doan scored his 114th power play goal to tie Keith Tkachuk for second place in that team statistic.

Now, it’s on to Boston to play the Bruins again after losing 5-3 to them just 10 days ago at Gila River arena in Glendale, AZ. Perhaps, the Arizona Coyotes can take advantage of the fact that the Bruins, who sport a 3-3-1 record, have yet to win at home.

The other factor is the Bruins have a seven-game winning streak against the Arizona Coyotes. They also are lethal on the power play, leading the league with a 33.3 per cent success ratio. On the flipside, they are also 29th in the league in penalty killing, with just a 68.2 percent success rate killing penalties.

The Arizona Coyotes need to watch David Krejci, who co-leads the league in scoring with 12 points. Brad Marchand went ballistic on them the last game also, running all over the ice like a crazy man.

This is the last game in this five game road trip where the team traveled over 5,200 miles round trip. If they can leave Beantown with a victory, they will not only have an excellent record of 6-3-1, but will be playing the next three games on home ice at Gila River arena.

If they can play with the energy, and good puck possession as they did in the Toronto game, they have a good shot at going home with a 3-1-1 road trip for seven out of a possible 10 points. Not bad, not even as bad as punking Max Domi.

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