At the halfway point of their season, the Arizona Coyotes are where few expected them to be in the standings: Second place in the Pacific Division.
Thanks to the recent realignment, that position carries with it both a playoff spot, and home-ice advantage in the opening round.
While much of the attention surrounding the team's surprising performance to date is being paid to rookie forwards Max Domi and Anthony Duclair, it's goaltender Louis Domingue who's kept the team more than afloat following an injury suffered by Mike Smith back in December.
In 10 starts for the Coyotes, Domingue has posted a record of 6-2-2 with a .936 save percentage, numbers that were boosted by a shutout win over the Nashville Predators in his last appearance.
While the Pacific is the weakest of the four divisions, the Coyotes rank sixth overall in the Western Conference, and Domingue believes the team is proving it belongs there.
"We’ve earned the right to be where we’re at," Domingue told Sarah McLellan of azcentral sports. "Earlier, I think people were saying that our division is a little weaker than the other ones. But I feel like right now we’ve really proved to everybody that we deserve to be here."
Whereas the Coyotes at one time appeared in good position to select local boy Auston Matthews at the 2016 NHL Draft, they're now that much closer to infusing excitement into the fan base through on-ice performance - and much sooner than expected.
