ST LOUIS: Mike Smith is used to facing plenty of shots, so this was nothing new. Smith made 37 saves and Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored 56 seconds into overtime to give the Phoenix Coyotes a 3-2 win over the St Louis Blues yesterday.
Coming into the game, Smith had seen the most shots of any NHL goalie (516). St. Louis added 39 more to that total, including 13 in the third period.
“It was nice for me to play like that tonight and bail the guys out,” Smith said. “ I’ve let in a lot of goals on nights where the guys have bailed me out, so it’s nice to be on the other end of the spectrum.”
The Coyotes made Smith a winner early in the extra session. Ekman-Larsson, who had an assist on Phoenix’s first goal, took a pass from Mike Ribeiro and beat goalie Jaroslav Halak with a shot from just inside the blue line.
“It was a great play there by Ribeiro,” Ekman-Larsson said. “ I saw (Shane) Doan was coming in from the corner so I shot it, and it was perfect.”
With the Blues swarming in the third period, Smith was at his best. AGENCIES
