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Coyotes coach calls on a goalie to ‘take the ball and run with it’

Winnipeg Jets v Arizona Coyotes

GLENDALE, AZ - OCTOBER 09: (L-R) Lauri Korpikoski #28, Rob Klinkhammer #36, Devan Dubnyk #40, Mike Smith #41, B.J. Crombeen #44, Antoine Vermette #50 and Mikkel Boedker #89 of the Arizona Coyotes stand on the ice during introductions to the NHL game against the Winnipeg Jets at Gila River Arena on October 9, 2014 in Glendale, Arizona. The Jets defeated the Coyotes 6-2. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

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For a while there, it seemed like Devan Dubnyk was the go-to goalie for the Arizona Coyotes, only the team struggled to reconcile sitting far more expensive goalie Mike Smith.

Maybe that’s still the case to some extent, yet Dubnyk’s been shaky enough in his last three starts that things seem that much more broadly troubling for the Coyotes.

From the sound of things, head coach Dave Tippett simply wants one of the two netminders to grab the job, as the Arizona Republic’s Sarah McLellan reports.

“If one of them wants to take the ball and run with it and win a bunch of games, I’m all good with that,” Tippett said.

Dubnyk, for one, thinks that the Coyotes are giving the kind of effort to make waves if they can get their netminding in order.

“It’s the effort that we’ve been looking for as a group in here and you don’t want to be the reason that we’re on the wrong end of it,” Dubnyk said.

The Coyotes are the second-worst team in the West right now with 23 standings points in 28 games played, and to add insult to injury, they’re on an unsettling losing streak at home. Their odds to make the playoffs already look pretty low, but they need at least one of Smith or Dubnyk to turn things around to at least make it interesting.

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins