Calgary, Alberta: Christian Dvorak has clearly shaken off the rookie jitters. Dvorak had two goals and an assist and Mike Smith made 36 saves for his 32nd career shutout as the surging Arizona Coyotes beat the Calgary Flames 5-0 on Monday night.
Dvorak’s third multi-point effort in the last five games gave the rookie seven points (five goals and two assists) over that span. He had just 13 points in the first 45 games.
“The first 20 or 30 games, he’s just happy to be in the league,” Arizona coach Dave Tippett said. “He recognises that he’s capable of playing here and he’s doing things right and he’s not in awe of people anymore. He just goes out there and plays and he’s a really good player.”
Dvorak, who was linemates with Toronto’s Mitch Marner and Calgary’s Matthew Tkachuk last season on the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights, agreed.
“I’m definitely feeling more comfortable and more confident as the season has gone on,” Dvorak said. “Gelling with my linemates, forming some chemistry and we’ve been playing pretty well as of late.”
Martin Hanzal, Ryan White and Justin Martinook also scored for the Coyotes, who have points in four straight (3-0-1) and are 6-2-1 in their last nine.
Chad Johnson had 19 saves through two periods and was replaced by Brian Elliott to start the third with the Flames trailing 4-0. Elliott stopped eight of the nine shots he faced.
