Coyotes, Smith in different place this time around against Ducks
When Mike Smith posted a 37-save shutout on the road against the Anaheim Ducks last month, he and the Arizona Coyotes improved to 3-0-0 and looked like one of the NHL's surprises.
The Coyotes are returning to Anaheim as a struggling team, with Smith going through some woes as the Ducks seek a fifth straight win Monday night.
Smith posted a 0.67 goals-against average in winning his first three starts, highlighted by his 28th career shutout in a 4-0 victory at Anaheim (5-7-2) on Oct. 14.
However, he's been pulled twice in three games and three times overall after coach Dave Tippett took him out of Saturday's 4-1 loss to the New York Rangers when a second-period shot by Chris Kreider got through Smith's legs. Anders Lindback came in for Smith, who stopped 14 of 17 shots and exited after yielding two second-period goals in a 3:29 span.
"We've seen too many like that," Tippett said. "... We needed to change up. You give up two goals, you're deflated. You've got to try to change something, so that's what we did."
Tippett called the second Rangers goal a "fluky one" and Smith doesn't feel he played that badly.
"I felt good about my game tonight, other than the last goal," Smith told the Coyotes' official website. "Obviously, I made a mistake there ... It went in. My fault."
Coyotes goalie Mike Smith (left) looks on after he was pulled from the game in the second period Saturday against the New York Rangers at Gila River Arena.
Smith is expected to give way to Lindback agaisnt the Ducks before starting Tuesday against the Los Angeles Kings. He is 2-4-1 with a 4.33 GAA since his outing at Anaheim. That victory improved him to 2-5-1 with a 2.44 GAA in his last eight starts against the Ducks.
"We'll continue to work with him," Tippett said. "He's shown us the standard he can play at, that's the standard we need him to play."
Arizona (6-6-1) has dropped three of four while Anaheim has turned its season around after a 1-7-2 start, thanks to this win streak in which it has posted two one-goal wins and two by two goals.
The Ducks got 31 saves from backup Anton Khudobin in Saturday's 1-0 victory at San Jose. They managed 17 shots and are the league's lowest-scoring team with an average of 1.5 goals.
"We fought like crazy to get that win," defenseman Cam Fowler said. "I'd still like to see us be on the attack a little bit more in third periods. I just feel like we're defending all the time."
Corey Perry scored for the second time in three games after going 11 games without a goal. He has five points in his last three.
Ryan Getzlaf has four points in two contests after missing four due to an appendectomy.
Anaheim is expected to turn back to Frederik Andersen, who has posted a 1.96 GAA in winning his last three starts. Andersen is 3-0-2 with a 1.16 GAA in five career starts against Arizona.
Coyotes defenseman Nicklas Grossmann, who scored twice Thursday, left Saturday's game in the second period with a lower-body injury.
Arizona's Anthony Duclair had a hat trick the last time these teams met but has no points in his last seven games.
