Chad Johnson made 22 saves and collected his first NHL shutout as he led the Phoenix Coyotes to a critical 4-0 victory over the Nashville Predators.
Two weeks ago, Johnson was sitting in the Portland Pirates (AHL) dressing room in Portland, Maine, and had to be wondering whether he would ever get the call back up to the NHL.
When Coyotes goalie Mike Smith went down last week with a lower-body injury, Johnson was called up to back up the Coyotes current backup goaltender, Jason LaBarbera.
LaBarbera struggled in his starts with the Coyotes, giving up a two-goal third-period lead to lose to San Jose last Thursday 5-3 and giving up two goals that he probably wished he had back in a 4-2 loss to Los Angeles on Saturday. LaBarbera's goals-against average for the season is 3.26, and his save percentage is a below-average .897 after three games, which led Coyotes coach Dave Tippett to consider juggling his lineup.
Tippett went with Johnson Monday night, as he claimed he was trying to give the team a spark (according to Sarah McLellan of azcentral.com). He felt that the team needed to play better defense and that his goalie needed to make more ...
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Article written by Michael Jenkins
Johnson Shines in Coyotes Debut, Leads Team to Victory over Nashville
January 28th, 2013 by Michael Jenkins Leave a reply »
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