NHL scores 2016: Coyotes leave their goalie out to dry over the Grand Canyon

We’ve talked ad nauseam about the remarkable season the Columbus Blue Jackets are experiencing. This is a young team that was forgotten and dismissed as a rebuilding project by most.

This is also the team that beat the league-best Canadiens 10-0. And the team that has a rookie contending for both rookie of the year and the MVP award and a coach vying for the Jack Adams. They are among the league’s best teams as we approach the end of a third of the season.

So maybe it’s not surprising that this happened on Saturday:

60 shots! Against the Arizona Coyotes, no less. Surely this was a blowout.

Wait, the shootout?

Yes, for one night, Mike Smith was re-incarnated as the top-tier goalie he once was for about two seasons not that long ago. Ignore the bad math in those tweets and you end up with 57 saves from a goalie that was just left to fend for himself for most of the last hour. If you went by possession alone, you’d think someone kidnapped the Coyotes in the third period:

As someone pointed out on Twitter, the Coyotes are the anti-analytics team this year in the sense that they spend most nights on the wrong end of the possession dial, begins to let leads slip away in grand fashion. And you don’t have to go very far these days to find people skeptical about the Blue Jackets’ true skill level based on metrics like shooting percentage.

Well ... the Blue Jackets’ shooting percentage was pretty historically awful last night and they still won. So that debate isn’t getting settled any time soon. But one debate can be put safely to rest: the Coyotes are mean to Mike Smith and he doesn’t deserve this. Just like he realized that the post doesn’t deserve his wrath anymore.

Bruins 2, Sabres 1

Flyers 3, Blackhawks 1

Rangers 4, Hurricanes 2

Devils 5, Predators 4 (OT)

Jets 3, Blues 2 (OT)

Senators 2, Panthers 0

Penguins 5, Red Wings 3

Lightning 2, Capitals 1 (SO)

Canucks 3, Maple Leafs 2 (SO)

Blue Jackets 3, Coyotes 2 (SO)

Stars 3, Avalanche 0

Oilers 3, Ducks 2 (OT)

* * *

* * *

1. The Colorado Avalanche are awful

That might sound harsh, but let me explain.

The Dallas Stars are also un-good. Or, at least, they are less good than they were last season. Blame it on injuries if you like. They’re just not as threatening, and lately they’ve been unable to consistently play well in any facet of their game.

Throw in a trip to Denver, where they haven’t won in regulation in ages, and you have a recipe for disaster.

The Avs barely put up a fight, giving Kari Lehtonen the 35th shutout of his career in a 3-0 loss to the Stars. Dallas has the worst road penalty kill in the league, and yet they were perfect on Saturday. Despite Dallas dressing rookies and AHL veterans up and down the lineup, the Avalanche were chasing possession all game long as they piled up penalties.

How can you argue with them? Colorado’s run to the playoffs a few years ago seems like such a distant memory for a team as wayward as this one.

2. Detroit will want to forget about that third period

The Red Wings entered the final frame in Pittsburgh on Saturday with all of the momentum and a 3-1 lead.

As you know all too well, a 3-1 lead is death in hockey.

Especially against the Penguins, who now have five comeback wins this season after blitzing the Wings with four tallies in the third period. Detroit sounded pretty bright afterwards, which is surprising. But hang onto that hope, I guess. They wasted their rookie goalie’s good start yesterday.

3. A battle of struggling teams came down to a struggling goalie

Here’s Ben Bishop over his last seven starts in net for Tampa Bay: a 2-5 record, 3.09 goals against average and a .900 save percentage. These are not the ideal results of an annual Vezina Trophy contender.

Nor are the results of the Lightning or Capitals. Heading into their game with Washington, the Lightning had dropped five out of their last six and four straight games. The Caps had lost four of six and three straight. So a lot was on the line.

And they played like it, grinding a close game into a shootout. Both stars shone (Nicklas Backstrom and Nikita Kucherov both scored) and both elite goalies showed up (Braden Holtby had 32 saves, Bishop had 34). But Bishop had the most to gain from the performance: with some timely saves late, he improved his career record to 2-6-1 against Washington and recouped some much-needed confidence as Tampa tries to turn things around.

Corey Crawford needed his appendix removed, so the Blackhawks were forced to sign random amateur club goalie Eric Semborski on a one-day contract to fill in for Scott Darling. He didn’t play, but it sure seems like he had a good time!

Too bad he won’t get paid, which seems weird.