February 11.
That is when Calgary Flames veteran goaltender Mike Smith (23-16-6) suffered a serious lower body injury. Smith assisted off the ice in the dying moments of a 3-2 win against the New York Islanders.
The Flames originally listed Smith as day-to-day. The days have turned into weeks. Soon, Smith will be out of commission for a full month.
Smith was his team's MVP at the time of his injury. With him in their net on a nightly basis, the Flames were a winning team and owned a Western Conference playoff berth. In Smith's absence, Calgary has fallen out of its playoff spot.
The Flames enter Wednesday night's game against the Buffalo Sabres with on a miserable 3-6-2 losing streak.
Flames GM Brad Trelivng opted to bypass making a trade for a veteran goalie to help smoothe out the rough spots while Smith is injured. The February 26 NHL trade deadline came and went with Treliving doubling down on his two prospect tendies David Rittich and John Gillies. The kids have had a tough time keeping the puck out of their own net. The duo allowed 40 goals against in the past 11 games that Smith has been relgated to street clothes. Gillies lost in OT to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night.
On Tuesday in Buffalo, Smith surprised his teammates when he jumped on the ice at accepted shots on goal.
"It was nice to get back with the guys. Obviously it's been a while since I practiced. I've been working a little bit and felt it was time to test it with live shooters and some different situations. It was good," Smith stated. "There's still some soreness involved but I think with any injury, there's going to be that when you push it a little harder. It's taking it day-by-day and hopefully get a little bit better here and get back in the lineup soon."
Thanks, Flames TV
If the Flames are going to tilt the ice back in their favor, Smith will have to be the goalie to lead his team to the playoffs. The Flames entered Tuesday night's game action with 74 points, which is 11th place in West. St. Louis (75), and Colorado (76) are chasing Los Angeles (77), who own the second wild card berth.