Arizona Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith will be between the pipes Saturday when his team faces the Edmonton Oilers, the team announced Saturday morning. It will be the first time in 40 games that Smith will see game action.
He was originally injured during a Dec. 8 game against the St. Louis Blues. Smith had surgery in December to repair a “core muscle” injury.
Prior to the injury he played 22 games on the year, posting a .901 save percentage with a 10-9-1 record.
In his absence, rookie Louis Domingue has stepped up and shown that he has serious potential in the NHL, keeping Arizona in the playoff hunt, albeit on the outside of the hunt. Domingue was named the NHL rookie of the month in January and has put up a .912 save percentage in 35 games for the ‘Yotes.
Smith will take the net against an offensively potent Edmonton team that has Ryan Nugent-Hopkins back in the lineup, and a ravaged blue line that will be without Darnell Nurse, Oscar Klefbom, Andrew Ference and Eric Gryba, as well as Justin Schultz, who was traded to Pittsburgh at the deadline.
Arizona will be looking for their second win in as many nights, after Domingue helped the Desert Dogs to a 4-1 win over the Flames on Friday.
"No one wants to play more than I do." – Mike Smith
See him back in action tonight at 8PM as we take on Edmonton. pic.twitter.com/KVzEwHIRtd
— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) March 12, 2016
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