Smith adds to playoff intensity in win against Kings

Phoenix Coyotes goalie Mike Smith posted his fourth
shutout of the season on Thursday in a 1-0 win against the
Los Angeles Kings, and that came with an altercation Smith
hasn’t been in for some time.

“I’ve tried to put that part of the game out of my game
and worry about stopping the puck, but in the heat of the
moment the wires crossed there a little bit, and I lost my
cool a little bit,” Smith told Arizona Sports 620’s Burns
and Gambo. “But it’s a part of the game, and we’re able to
get two points out of it, so it makes it that much
sweeter.”

Smith got into a fight when LA’s Anze Kopitar ran into
him, which pushed Phoenix’s goalie to the breaking point.
Smith said he was hit a few minutes earlier and told the
referee that he “better call this or it’s going to get out
of hand.”

Sure enough, it did.

“After I grabbed him I felt a little bit bad because
Kopitar is a pretty good guy, and he’s not known for that
style of play,” Smith said. “But that’s part of the game,
and it’s a fun part sometimes, but you’ve got to stick to
stopping the puck and not worrying about that kind of
stuff.”

Smith’s flared emotions boosted the intensity of the game,
which was needed in their hunt for a playoff spot.

The Coyotes surged lately, having won seven of their last
nine games, and had to beat the Kings because they’ve been
neck and neck with them in the Western Conference. The
victory pushed Phoenix to seventh in the standings and
gave them a total of 65 points, which is two points ahead
of being out of the playoff chase.

“It was a playoff atmosphere, playoff-like mentality and
you want to play in those games, and as a professional
athlete those are games where emotions run the highest and
the adrenaline is at a whole new level.”

Smith said that a big contribution to the win was that
players stepped up who haven’t in past games, but the key
was that as a team they’ve focused on what they need to do
to win games.

“At the start of the season we were kind of searching for
the way we need to play, and I think as of late we’ve
really committed to doing the small things in games that
it takes for our team to win hockey games,” Smith said.
“We are a confident hockey team right now and we’ve got to
keep going.”

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