In a bold move, the Coyotes will rest Mike Smith and play Louis Domingue tonight in their bloodbath, I mean rematch, against the Blue Jackets tonight in Columbus.
Smith, you may recall, performed a Christmas Miracle the other night when he made 632 saves vs the Blue Jackets in a game that was similar to what I imagine it'd be like if Team Canada, circa 1987, took on my Grampa's senior team (Tottenham, ON. D Division Runner-Up 2010) in a game with full contact.
Anyways, the Coyotes response to the other night's atrocity was to demote Anthony (Big Tony) DeAngelo (despite scoring at a rate that'd make him the team's highest scoring defenseman, had he played all the games) and fourth liner Laurent Dauphin.
While I strongly disagree with demoting DeAngleo because he's out played Goligoski, Stone and Murphy, I am pumped to see Brendan Perlini, former first round pick, make his NHL debut.
Perlini leads the AHL in goals with 11, but in typical Dave Tippett fashion, he'll be asked to not lose any confidence when he has trouble scoring while on a line with Jordan Martinhook and Jamie McGinn.
Anthony Duclair will be a healthy scratch.