After recording three straight shutouts, Phoenix Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith finally allowed a goal on Friday night. At the 14:26 mark of the first period in St. Louis, Blues forward Patrik Berglund was wide open in front of the crease and banged home a rebound off of an odd-man rush for his 19th goal of the season.
For Smith, it's the first goal he allowed since the 5:01 mark of the second period of a game at San Jose back on March 24 (a goal that was scored by Daniel Winnik).
In the three full games that followed Smith turned aside every shot he faced to record his sixth, seventh and eighth shutouts of the season. To put a couple of numbers on the streak as a whole, it was over 230 minutes of actual game time between goals, and 160 straight shots.
During the three shutouts he faced quite a heavy workload, and had to stop 38, 44 and 54 shots, with the latter being an NHL record for most saves in a regulation game.
Pretty remarkable stretch for one of the NHL's biggest individual surprises this season, and a player that should not only be getting more attention in the Vezina Trophy discussion, but has also proven to be one of the best free agent signings of the summer.
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Mike Smith's shutout streak comes to an end
Patrik Berglund's goal late in the first period on Friday night snapped a pretty impressive shutout streak for Phoenix Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith.
By
Adam Gretz
•
1 min read