Arizona Coyotes Facing Goalie Controversy, Poor Defense

With starter Mike Smith sidelined for 8-10 weeks, it’s up to Anders Lindback and Louis Domingue to perform for the Arizona Coyotes.

Anders Lindback seemed pumped up to be getting a starting role due to Mike Smith’s injury woes, but his debut was anything but head snapping. Instead he performed as badly as Smith has done in the past by allowing four goals on just 10 shots on his net. He was promptly yanked by Head Coach Dave Tippett in favor of backup Louis Domingue.

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It can be argued whomever they put in net, the defense is letting the goaltender on duty down — and severely. They’re just letting in too many goals. They are 25th in the NHL in goal differential with a -16. It can be blamed mostly by poor puck possession, which limits the scoring chances. What is baffling is the Arizona Coyotes are second in the NHL in face-offs won, with a very impressive 52.9 %, per NHL.com.

So, what’s the issue? Holding onto the puck has got to be it. If you watched any Arizona Coyotes games, you’ll see that they give away the puck via turnovers, which at times results in the opposing team scoring. Their power play is almost non-existent with a 15.2% success ratio. Compare that to being seventh last season with a respectable 20% of their power plays resulting in a goal, and you begin to see why they are not winning more games.

The Coyote defense is a combined +/- minus 19. Look at All-Star defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson… he is a minus 8, even though he has 19 points in 31 games. He is an offensive defenseman who isn’t shy about attacking the offensive zone to add to the chances of scoring.

Yet, when you look at two very defensive blue-liners in Nicklas Grossman and Connor Murphy, they both have a plus two. Could it be that the Arizona Coyotes offense is so weak that is relies on the defensemen to pick up the slack caused by the forwards not putting the puck in the net?

Now the offense has improved this season with rookies Max Domi and Anthony Duclair adding some offensive punch, but the defense is really not doing the job. Last season over the first 31 games, the team gave up 98 goals, four less than they have given up this current season. Their record over 31 games last year was 11-16-4 for 26 points. Only four less than this season. Hmmm… makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

The goalie “controversy” is only that if Anders Lindback fails in his replacement efforts in Mike Smith’s absence. If Louis Domingue can step up and play better than Lindback, the team will improve. It’s just a lot to expect from a 23 year-old goalie who has only played in eight NHL games in his young career.

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The way GM Don Maloney spoke out about what they will do when Mike Smith was injured, it sounded like he didn’t think it was an emergency situation calling for him to put his hunting cap on to search for a replacement. Yet, unless you’re an optimist, the likes of Lindback and Domingue taking you into a playoff position seems like a long shot.

It may be time for Don Maloney to start looking for a replacement for Mike Smith, and not just a bandaid on a bullet hole type of replacement.

While he’s at it he needs to see about storing up his weak defense, since giving up 3.29 goals a game will not be a formula for success.