Mike Smith suffers lower body injury in Coyotes loss at Senators (Video)

Arizona Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith left his team’s Tuesday 7-4 loss against the Ottawa Senators in the third period with a lower body injury.

With 12:42 left in the frame, Smith seemed to get his left leg twisted up as he tried to make a play in his crease. He then stayed on the ice, writhing in pain. Smith was helped off by the team’s trainer along with teammate Anthony Duclair. Last season Smith played just 32 games with Arizona as he dealt with a core muscle issue. Until then, he had played 62-or-more games in each full season since he joined Arizona for 2011-12.

Going into Tuesday’s contest he had won the only game he played, the season opener against the Philadelphia Flyers where he stopped 27 of 30 shots on goal. Smith had stopped 27 of 30 Senators shots on goal before exiting the game with the issue.

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A team spokesman said Smith would be re-evaluated Wednesday.

Louis Domingue replaced Smith and allowed three Senators goals on 11 shots on goal. Last season, Domingue played 39 games and held a 2.75 goal-against average along with a .912 save percentage.

During the offseason, the Coyotes re-signed the 24-year-old Domingue to a two-year, $2.1 million contract to back up Smith again.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper

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