Smith will start Friday's contest in Buffalo, Joe Yerdon of NHL.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

Smith will start one day after being yanked from Thursday's game with Detroit, in which he allowed three goals in the first period. After winning the World Championship with Canada this offseason, Smith expressed that he had regained his confidence and was looking forward to putting together a bounce-back season. It hasn't worked out that way for Smith to this point, having only slightly improved his 2014-15 stats (3.16 goals against average, .904 save percentage versus 3.00 goals against average, .905 save percentage). Smith should be rested after getting a two-period break on Thursday, and will take on a Buffalo team that scores only 2.28 goals per game.