Arizona Coyotes: Mike Smith Wins Player Of The Game Belt After Shutout
Arizona Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith backstopped the Yotes for the first time since December 8th. He stopped all 44 shots he faced in his return to action.
The Arizona Coyotes’ net has been patrolled by an AHL call-up for the past three months.
Saturday night, Mike Smith returned in a bid to reclaim his crease from Louis Domingue after missing those three months with a core muscle injury.
The early returns were quite good.
Smith saved all 44 shots fired at him by the young, skilled Edmonton lineup. He also managed to keep rookie phenom Connor McDavid off the board which is no small feat.
He had huge saves against the Oilers young trifecta of McDavid, Taylor Hall, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins throughout the contest. He certainly had to work for it, with each member of that trio getting at least one or more open looks at Smith.
For his Herculean effort after such a long absence, Brad Richardson delivered the belt to the 33-year-old netminder as player of the game.
Mike Smith’s return was a potential teaser for what the Arizona Coyotes are hoping to see moving forward from the franchise netminder.
It’s been no secret that Smith was underwhelming last season (.904 save percentage in 62 games) and even more so earlier this season (.901 save percentage in 22 games). With news of Smith’s injury coming in December, however, the indication was that he played those 22 games earlier this season while suffering through the issue.
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It’s possible that the Mike Smith we saw in October and November was a mere shell of himself and that Coyotes fans and staff may now see a rejuvenated and fully healthy Smith for the first time in a while going forward.
If so, Smith’s return bodes very well for an Arizona Coyotes franchise looking to gain the services of both Dylan Strome and Christian Dvorak to bolster their below average center corps over the summer.
Assuming Smitty is healthy and capable, the Yotes have finally found a cheap, viable backup in Louis Domingue who could continue to be groomed as a starter moving forward.
Domingue has appeared in 35 games and has a .912 save percentage in extended action with Coyotes this season. Head coach Dave Tippett has relied heavily on Louis – arguably too heavily – since Anders Lindback went down with injury early in February. The workload clearly began to wear on Domingue, but now the Coyotes appear to have a much more stable goaltending pairing.
Next: Coyotes Shutout Oilers 4-0 In Smith's Return
Mike Smith’s re-debut went off without a hitch. The Coyotes scored for their number one netminder and he rewarded their efforts.
A full return to form – or even league average, at this point – would be huge for the Arizona Coyotes heading into 2016-17.