Coyotes awaiting test results on Mike Smith, who's listed as day-to-day

The Arizona Coyotes are awaiting test results on starting goaltender Mike Smith, who went down with what appeared to be a knee injury in Tuesday night's loss 7-4 at Ottawa, but preliminary results appear to be encouraging.

"He's day to day," coach Dave Tippett said Wednesday in Montreal, where the Coyotes' six-game road trip continues with a Thursday night game against the Canadiens. "He had some tests done today. He's up and around, moving, so that's a positive sign, but we'll wait till we get the tests back."

Louis Domingue, a native of the Montreal area, will start Wednesday in goal. Domingue made his first career start in Montreal in February 2015 and helped the Coyotes to a 3-2 victory, settling down after allowing two first-period goals.

"It's one of those things where the whole experience has that adrenaline rush to it where you don't remember the process, but you remember the end, and the end was great," Domingue said.

Domingue gave up two quick goals after replacing Smith in the third period Tuesday night, but coach Dave Tippett said Domingue earned the confidence of his teammates and the coaching staff with the job he did filling in last year both Smith and backup Anders Lindback were injured. Domingue had a 15-18-5 record and a 2.75 goals-against average.

"He's done this before. He's a veteran of jumping in and being the lead guy for a team when a goaltender goes down," Tippett said.

"He knows he can do the job on this level. He came in and played really well last year, and we expect the same from him this year."

Domingue looks forward to the opportunity, though he's sorry that it came about due to injury.

"That's not the plan, having Mike do down, but when someone goes down, other guys have to step up, and I'm just one of them," he said. "I've just got to come in and relax and give the team confidence that things are going to go well.

"I'm fresh, I'm ready to go. I know what I'm getting into."

The Coyotes called up 30-year-old Justin Peters from Tucson to serve as an emergency backup to Domingue, and also placed wing Jamie McGinn on injured reserve, retroactive to Oct. 5.

Peters has a 25-37-9 record and a 3.08 goals-against average in 80 career NHL games with Washington and Carolina.