In Calgary Monday night, the Arizona Coyotes improved to 6-2-1 in their nine games with a 5-0 win over the Flames.
Mike Smith had 36 in 4-0 win over Flames – file photo by Brent Clark
Mike Smith made 36 saves for the shutout, his 32nd career shutout.
“I’m just trying to be solid for the group,” Smith said. “I’m back there just trying to be as consistent as possible. It’s been nice to be able to have some success this year and help the team get wins.”
The Arizona offense got a boost from Christian Dvorak who had two goals and an assist in the victory.
“The team is definitely coming together as of late and we’ve been playing pretty well,” Dvorak said. “We’ve got a solid record lately, and hopefully we can keep it going.”
The Flames were coming off their five-day break and looked disorganized in all three zones.
Ryan White, Martin Hanzal and Jordan Martinook also scored for the Coyotes.
Chad Johnson got the start for the Flames and yielded four goals before getting hook in favor of Brian Elliot.
“It’s frustrating,” Johnson said. “We obviously know what we can do when we play well, and what happens when we don’t play well is obvious here too. We’re either really good or really bad. There’s no middle right now.”
WATCH: All Coyotes vs. Flames highlights
The five-day break is ideal for healing and resting but the Flames came out of their break with a lackluster effort and were rolled over by a Coyotes team with little to play for but next season.
“You look at this game and this is a game you want to have. You should win these games. There’s no other way around it. (Arizona) showed this last little bit they’re not quitting,” Johnson said. “They have lots to play for as individuals over there. It’s not good enough. I don’t know what to say. You can make excuses, ‘Oh it was the (five-day) break,’ but it is what it is. I don’t know what to say. It’s disappointing.”
The Coyotes have improved to 19-28-7 and a have a mountain to climb to get to .500 and are 15 points pack of the wild card.
“It’s good for our young kids’ confidence, good for our group’s confidence knowing that we can play with these guys if we just play the right way, and the compete level has to be there,” Smith said. “It’s nice to see us get some wins from that because that just grows confidence. Winning is a contagious thing. We want to get used to winning a lot more.”
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