We have quite a bit of goaltending news to talk about on this Saturday afternoon. On Friday, we had a netminder on the move and a record in Winnipeg. Today, there is an under-the-weather goaltender in the desert and a great new mask debuting in Rockford.
Devils Trade for Domingue
Just moments before the New Jersey Devils took to the ice to take on the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday night, the team announced they had acquired some goaltending depth for their organization. The Devils sent a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Louie Domingue.
The Lightning will receive the Devils’ seventh-round pick if Domingue plays in seven regular-season games for the Devils this season, or one NHL playoff game or is traded by New Jersey prior to the 2020 draft.
Domingue has been playing in the American Hockey League for the Syracuse Crunch this season and has been assigned to the Binghamton Devils. He had a 3.81 goals-against average (GAA) and .863 save percentage (SV%) in his four games with Syracuse this season.
The 27-year-old netminder has appeared 122 career National Hockey League games with the Arizona Coyotes and Lightning. He is 55-49-8 with a 2.96 GAA, .907 SV% and two shutouts.
The Hellebuyck Stops Here
The San Jose Sharks have been one of the most disappointing teams of the 2019-20 season so far. They lost again on Friday night, 3-2 to the Winnipeg Jets, but you could not fault their effort. The Sharks put 53 shots on goal, but Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck had one of the best games of his career in stopping 51 of them.
The Sharks had 28 shots on goal during the second period, just one shy of a franchise record for the most shots in a single period, but only found the back of the net once. The Jets lost 7-4 at the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night, so this was a huge bounce-back game for the Hellebuyck and the Jets.
“He’s had a history of having a night he didn’t like and coming back and being just about unbeatable,” head coach Paul Maurice said of Hellebuyck. “It’s probably the only story of the game. Those are traffic shots, and there’s so much hard work that goes into doing what he did tonight; fighting through to see pucks, moving when you’re on the ice and there’s nothing but legs and sticks flying. He was fantastic.
“We wouldn’t want to see that too often. We’ll take the goaltending every night, but San Jose was really good. Our goalie was really good.”
The 51 saves were the most by any Jets goaltender since they returned to Winnipeg and the third-most in any game in Atlanta Thrashers/Jets franchise history.
Fleury Under the Weather, Sparks Back in Vegas
Speaking of the Jets, they are in Las Vegas tonight to take on the Golden Knights and they will not have worry about trying to score on Marc-Andre Fleury. When the team took to the ice for their morning skate, Malcolm Subban was in the starter’s net and Fleury was nowhere to be found.
According to Jesse Granger of The Athletic, Fleury has the flu and will miss tonight’s game. He is not expected to miss any significant amount of time.
The Golden Knights recalled Garrett Sparks from the Chicago Wolves to backup Subban tonight. He has a 1.80 GAA and .946 SV% in six AHL games this season.
Delia Loves His Minions
Collin Delia of the Chicago Blackhawks is one of the most interesting goaltenders you will ever meet inside of a locker. He would much rather talk to you about building furniture or making a new leather wallet by hand then goaltending, but he is always one for a good quote.
He recently hired tattoo artist Michael Figueroa to design his new mask, which he will debut with the Rockford IceHogs this weekend. The wonderful graphics include one of Disney’s Minions spray painting the Blackhawks’ logo onto the white mask. Take a look for yourself!
