Smith has been out since March 24th after suffering a knee injury that night in New York. He has been skating over the last week, but this morning was his first full practice since getting hurt. The Coyotes are in a tough fight for the last Wild Card spot in the West, so getting Smith back would be a huge boost for the team. They have four games remaining, starting tomorrow vs. Columbus. There is no word if Smith will be ready, but he is definitely nearing a return. Monitor his status in the morning skate tomorrow.

Smith will miss his sixth straight game tonight, but the Coyotes are likely to have more information before next week's road-trip (Tuesday-Thursday).

While Matt Duchene's knee injury has spelled bad news for many fantasy owners, the one Colorado Avalanche forward who will be in for a huge uptick in production will be last night's hero Gabriel Landeskog. The 21-year old Swede saved the game for the Av's, scoring the game-winning goal in overtime and adding another. With 63 points in 74 games, he has been "red-hot" of late with five goals and an assist in his last four games. The line of Landeskog, Nathan McKinnon, and Paul Stastny figure to provide the vast majority of the Colorado offense with Duchene out, while the biggest fantasy loser stands to be Ryan O'Reilly. The highly heralded offensive trio in Edmonton decided to show up last night as Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins combined for 10 points in the 5-4 loss to San Jose. Out of the three, only Hall has come close to realizing his vast potential this season with 68 points in 68 games. With the games winding down and the lowly Oilers "light years" away from playoff contention, maybe the "Big Three" live up to the hype over the last week and a half. However, if you are in contention for your fantasy hockey crown, you are probably not counting on them. Promising Tampa Bay rookie Ondrej Palat continues to be a pleasant fantasy surprise, snapping a three-game point drought with 2 assists. The winger has been relied upon more heavily with the exodus of Martin St. Louis and continues to score at a consistent clip with 51 points in 75 games. The youngster has "SLEEPER" written all over him for next season and beyond. One of your more underrated fantasy goaltenders, Kari Lehtonen, helped keep Dallas ahead of Phoenix in the playoff race by blanking the Washington Capitals on the road. The 35-save masterpiece has capped an incredibly effective stretch for the talented Swede, who has won 5 of his last 6 starts. His record stands at 29-18-8 with a 2.47 GAA and a .917 SP. Start him with confidence. Along with Kimmo Timonen and Tobias Enstrom, the formerly struggling Dan Boyle leads a renaissance of surging veteran defensemen down the stretch. His streak of 29 games without a goal is no more, as the Shark's blueliner scored a goal and an assist last night. He is currently on a five-game point streak, which indicates he should be starting in all fantasy formats. The Shark's offense is clicking on all cylinders at the moment. Goalie Thomas Greiss acquitted himself well once again for Phoenix, albeit in a 2-1 shootout loss to Winnipeg. He has ...

While Matt Duchene's knee injury has spelled bad news for many fantasy owners, the one Colorado Avalanche forward who will be in for a huge uptick in production will be last night's hero Gabriel Landeskog. The 21-year old Swede saved the game for the Av's, scoring the game-winning goal in overtime and adding another. With 63 points in 74 games, he has been "red-hot" of late with five goals and an assist in his last four games. The line of Landeskog, Nathan McKinnon, and Paul Stastny figure to provide the vast majority of the Colorado offense with Duchene out, while the biggest fantasy loser stands to be Ryan O'Reilly. The highly heralded offensive trio in Edmonton decided to show up last night as Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins combined for 10 points in the 5-4 loss to San Jose. Out of the three, only Hall has come close to realizing his vast potential this season with 68 points in 68 games. With the games winding down and the lowly Oilers "light years" away from playoff contention, maybe the "Big Three" live up to the hype over the last week and a half. However, if you are in contention for your fantasy hockey crown, you are probably not counting on them. Promising Tampa Bay rookie Ondrej Palat continues to be a pleasant fantasy surprise, snapping a three-game point drought with 2 assists. The winger has been relied upon more heavily with the exodus of Martin St. Louis and continues to score at a consistent clip with 51 points in 75 games. The youngster has "SLEEPER" written all over him for next season and beyond. One of your more underrated fantasy goaltenders, Kari Lehtonen, helped keep Dallas ahead of Phoenix in the playoff race by blanking the Washington Capitals on the road. The 35-save masterpiece has capped an incredibly effective stretch for the talented Swede, who has won 5 of his last 6 starts. His record stands at 29-18-8 with a 2.47 GAA and a .917 SP. Start him with confidence. Along with Kimmo Timonen and Tobias Enstrom, the formerly struggling Dan Boyle leads a renaissance of surging veteran defensemen down the stretch. His streak of 29 games without a goal is no more, as the Shark's blueliner scored a goal and an assist last night. He is currently on a five-game point streak, which indicates he should be starting in all fantasy formats. The Shark's offense is clicking on all cylinders at the moment. Goalie Thomas Greiss acquitted himself well once again for Phoenix, albeit in a 2-1 shootout loss to Winnipeg. He has ...

Smith has been doing off-ice workouts, but plans to skate next week. The Coyotes are happy with how he has come along, and hope that they will get good news when he is re-evaluated next week. Smith could be back before the regular season is done, but there is no guarantee at this point.

Stay tuned.

In the meantime, Thomas Greiss will continue to start.

The Coyotes announced this afternoon that Smith's injury is not as serious as originally feared and that he might just be dealing with a minor strain. They are encouraged with how well he is walking today and are hoping that he will only miss the rest of the current road-trip (2 games) at most. He will continue to be evaluated and we will pass on any further details.

Smith grabbed for his right leg, and appeared to be in pain. He left the game and was helped off the ice and appeared to be able put only minor pressure on his leg as he stepped off the ice. Smith's leg appeared to be twisted and with only 10 games left in the Coyotes season, Smith's season appears in jeopardy. He will be re-evaluated on Tuesday, but Thomas Greiss will start Tuesday.

All 6 games in the NHL last night were decided by one goal, with half of them decided by a shootout and another won in overtime. Playoff season is arriving! Ryan McDonagh was nothing short of fabulous last night as the sleepy Rangers pulled out an important two points against the Phoenix Coyotes. All the emerging defenseman did was add two assists and scored the game-winner in overtime.  With those 3 points, McDonagh eclipsed the 40 point plateau and is obliterating his previous high of 32 a few years back.  At 24 years of age, McDonagh has room to grow still and can be comparable to Chicago's Duncan Keith. Mike Smith has been spectacular in net of late and so has Henrik Lundqvist.  The two elite net minders turned their seasons around after the Olympic break and last night was proof.  Unfortunately, Smith went down to a lower-body injury (LBI) and may be lost for some time.  Not good for the Yotes who are battling for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference.  Thomas Greiss will man the net in the meantime and has decent metrics at 2.38 GAA and a .924 SP. Grab him if you need goaltender help. The Rangers celebrated Lundqvist's franchise record for victories (302) last night at the Garden and after a shaky start, kept the Rangers in the game long enough for the McDonagh theatrics.  It wasn't one of his best games in that he only faced 21 shots on goal, but it he was good when the team needed him.  Congrats Henrik on your record! Peter Budaj got the surprise start against the Boston Bruins last night instead of Carey Price. Budaj stopped 28 of 29 SOG and raised his record against Boston this season to 2-1-0.  Coach had his reasons and it paid off.  Don't worry Price owners.  Carey is still the Number 1 in Montreal! Erik Karlsson continues to show why he is the elite defenseman in the NHL. He helped the Ottawa Senators upset the Tampa bay Lightning last night with a goal and 2 assists.  What else is there to say? An important win in Big D last night as Kari Lehtonen backstopped the Dallas Stars to a 2-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets; especially with Phoenix losing in OT to the Rangers. Lehts stopped 32 of 33 SOG and earned his 27th win on the season. A few more games like that and the Stars will be shining come playoff time. If you throw out that 6-game losing streak in the middle of November, the "rebuilding" Calgary Flames just might be battling for that last playoff spot along with Phoenix and Dallas. Don't expect Calgary to be an easy stop of ...