You could say that Mike Smith is on a bit of a hot streak right now, but that probably isn't going to be enough to do his recent performance justice. Frankly, this is pretty ridiculous. In what was a must-win game for the Phoenix Coyotes, and their final home game of the regular season, Smith stopped every shot he faced in a 2-0 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets to record his eighth shutout of the season and third in as many starts.
And just how many shots did he have to save on Tuesday night? That would be 54. Fifty. Four. The most impressive thing about this performance is that 18 of the shots he faced came with his team shorthanded, as the Coyotes had to kill off seven penalties on the night.
For the Blue Jackets, it was a single game franchise record for shots on goal, and it still wasn't enough to beat Smith, who has done his part to make Coyotes fans forget about Ilya Bryzgalov, which didn't seem like it would be possible at the start of the season. Smith has simply been one of the best free agent finds any team had this past summer, and is making a pretty strong argument to be in the discussion for the Vezina Trophy.
He hasn't allowed a goal in nearly 220 minutes, and over the past three games has stopped 136 straight shots. He had a stretch similar to this back in February when he recorded back-to-back shutouts, and then allowed only one goal in the third game.
The win moves Phoenix into a tie for first place in the Pacific Division with the Los Angeles Kings, as both teams now have 93 points in the standings.
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