DeSmith Earns His 100th Win in a Shootout, Schroeder Hurt at Canada’s Camp
Plus: the Rangers' goalie scout is on the road, Toronto's and Calgary's EBUGs on their new job, Lindgren passes Pat Riggin on the Capitals' wins list, Lindbom blanks Coachella Valley, Bednář shuts out KalPa in Liiga, and to close, Dan Blackburn's first NHL win at 18, 25 years ago today
In this edition 10 stories
NHL
International
NHLDeSmith stops three of four shooters for his 100th NHL win
Casey DeSmith got to 100 NHL wins in a shootout in Denver on Wednesday. Martin Necas, Nathan MacKinnon, and Brock Nelson all failed to beat him, Nazem Kadri was the only Avalanche shooter who did, and Roope Hintz won it 3-2 for Dallas in the fourth round (NHL game center). DeSmith had turned away 25 of 27 shots through regulation and overtime, one night after Colorado beat the Stars 3-2 in Dallas (DallasStars.com).
Only 25 American-born goalies reached 100 regular-season wins before him, and five of them are still playing (NHL.com). By InGoal’s count from NHL game data, his 100 split as 58 with Pittsburgh, 12 with Vancouver, and 30 with Dallas (NHL.com). The 35-year-old from Rochester, N.H., was one win short of the mark on Sept. 30, when the Stars signed him to a two-year extension (DallasStars.com).
Coach Glen Gulutzan, looking back on the two games: “‘Case’ was real good, and I thought it was a really even six periods” (NHL.com).
On InGoal: Casey DeSmith’s Pro Reads and InGoal Radio Episode 237 with Casey DeSmith.
Updated 1:30 PM PT
NHLThe Rangers' goalie scout is on the road, and Hartford may add a goalie
The Rangers are watching the goalie market while Dylan Garand holds the net, Elliotte Friedman said on Thursday’s 32 Thoughts podcast (Sportsnet). He said former NHL goalie Scott Clemmensen, now the Rangers’ goaltending scout, was at Buffalo’s game in Montreal on Tuesday, and his guess was that Clemmensen went to see Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. People around the league told Friedman to expect Clemmensen at more games over the next few weeks.
In Friedman’s view, Garand’s wins over Vancouver and Tampa Bay have given general manager Chris Drury time, so the Rangers can build a list and scout without hurrying. He also said he had heard that Hartford may bring in a goalie in the next day or two: the Rangers have Garand and Spencer Martin, and Joonas Korpisalo is still injured (Sportsnet).
Hartford made its move on Thursday: the Wolf Pack signed James Reimer, 38, to a professional tryout, and he joins the team this weekend in Charlotte (HartfordWolfPack.com). Reimer played 14 games for Ottawa last season, going 7-4-2 with a shutout, and has 539 NHL games over 16 seasons with eight teams, with 232 wins and 32 shutouts.
On InGoal: Dylan Garand’s Pro Reads and InGoal Radio Episode 107 with Scott Clemmensen; James Reimer’s Pro Reads, InGoal Radio Episode 267 with James Reimer, and Pro Drills with James Reimer and Thomas Speer.
NHLToronto's Brendan Bonello and Calgary's Dusty Nickel on the new EBUG job
Now that every NHL team must carry an emergency backup goalie, roughly 32 goalies have a paid job in the role, and Joshua Clipperton of The Canadian Press spoke with two of them (TSN).
Toronto’s is Brendan Bonello, 27, from Mississauga, Ont. He played in the OHL and at university, spent a short time in the ECHL, and was an EBUG in the AHL before this, and he runs a goalie school. “Getting a second chance, you don’t take it for granted,” he said. “Being here now is surreal.” He wants no favours in practice: “I don’t want them taking anything off their shots. It’s muscle memory. I want them to shoot like they would in the game.”
Calgary’s Dusty Nickel, 35, a former Junior A goalie, covered emergencies for the Flames for five seasons before the job became a permanent one. “Right place at the right time,” he said. “Pretty exciting for someone my age” (TSN).
Nickel saw the change coming. In December 2023, when he was already the Flames’ practice goalie and EBUG, he told InGoal Radio that a full-time version of the job had come up: “There’s been background conversations kind of about that.” He also said the practices were the part he liked: “I enjoy going there and practicing with the boys and doing that. I’m fine with that” (InGoal Radio).
The rules keep the job for true amateurs: no NHL games on a standard contract, no more than 80 pro games, and none in the past three seasons. EBUGs wear No. 00, work for the team rather than belonging to the NHLPA, and don’t count against the cap. Deputy commissioner Bill Daly pointed to the rising number of goalie injuries: “Not to have a qualified goaltender on the bench as a backup can be concerning.”
The regular goalies gain too. With the EBUG taking the skaters’ shots, Vancouver’s Kevin Lankinen said a backup can spend practice with the goalie coach: “To work on the details and maybe not getting hammered with 200 shots.” And Islanders coach Pete DeBoer joked that EBUGs may have “the best job in hockey” (TSN).
On InGoal: InGoal Radio Episode 236 with Brian Hayward and Dusty Nickel and our Oct. 3 edition’s look at the EBUGs teams have announced.
NHLLindgren passes Pat Riggin on the Capitals' wins list
Charlie Lindgren made 26 saves in Washington’s 5-4 win over Montreal on Wednesday, his first win of the season (NHL game center). It was also his 68th as a Capital, which breaks a tie with Pat Riggin and leaves him alone in seventh in franchise history (WashingtonCaps.com).
On InGoal: Charlie Lindgren’s Pro Reads.
ReadersSchmid's save was the harder one, and Svechnikov's goal was interference
Our Oct. 14 edition asked two questions. As of this morning, 67% of you said Akira Schmid‘s stop on Sean Monahan was harder than Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen‘s on Josh Anderson. And every vote so far would have waved off Andrei Svechnikov’s goal on Logan Thompson for goaltender interference. The review saw it the other way, and the goal stood.
AHLLindbom, a Second Team All-Star last season, blanks Coachella Valley
Carl Lindbom faced 26 shots and stopped them all as the Henderson Silver Knights beat Coachella Valley 4-0 on Wednesday, and he was named first star (AHL game report).
Lindbom, 23, is from Stockholm. Vegas took him in the seventh round, 222nd overall, in 2021, and he came over from Färjestad BK of the SHL. Last season he went 24-5-8 for Henderson, played in the AHL All-Star Game, and made the league’s Second All-Star Team, and in June he signed a three-year extension with the Golden Knights (Wikipedia).
On InGoal: InGoal Radio Episode 302 with Carl Lindbom.
PWHLSan Jose's Corinne Schroeder hurt at Canada's camp
Corinne Schroeder, who signed with PWHL San Jose to be its starter, left Team Canada’s camp in Quebec City on Wednesday after she was hurt in an off-ice warmup before the camp’s last scrimmage. Canada coach Kori Cheverie confirmed the injury, but how serious it is hasn’t been made public. The Hockey News’ Pat Laprade, who is at the camp, saw her leave the rink in a wheelchair with a walking boot on her right foot (The Hockey News).
Schroeder has played 52 PWHL games, fifth-most of any goalie, with a .921 save percentage. San Jose’s first camp opens Nov. 18, and its other goalies are Abbey Levy, who has 13 PWHL games with New York and Boston, and rookie Tia Chan, the 2026 NCAA goaltender of the year at UConn, whom San Jose drafted in the third round (The Hockey News).
On InGoal: InGoal Radio Episode 251 with Corinne Schroeder and Pro Tips with Corinne Schroeder.
InternationalBednář blanks KalPa, Straubing signs Pantkowski
Around Europe
- Jan Bednář stopped all 29 shots as Ässät, the club from Pori, won 1-0 at KalPa in Liiga (Finland) on Wednesday. KalPa had the better of the first two periods, and Kasper Björkqvist settled it on a third-period power play (Ässät). Bednář, 24, is Czech, a Detroit Red Wings pick (107th overall, 2020) who played for Toledo and Grand Rapids before signing with Ässät in 2025 (Wikipedia).
- In Germany’s DEL, the Straubing Tigers signed Mirko Pantkowski, 28, on Oct. 13 while Florian Bugl is out long-term with a lower-body injury. Pantkowski has played in the league for Adler Mannheim, the Düsseldorfer EG, the Kölner Haie, and most recently the Löwen Frankfurt. Sporting director Jason Dunham called him an experienced goalie who “knows the PENNY DEL very well” (translated from German) (Straubing Tigers).
JuniorCruz Chase, 18, has two WHL shutouts, both against Penticton
In his first start of the season, Portland’s Cruz Chase, 18, stopped all 29 Penticton shots and was the first star in a 2-0 Winterhawks win on Wednesday. His first WHL shutout came against the Vees too: 37 saves on Dec. 14, 2025 (Portland Winterhawks, Portland Winterhawks).
History18-year-old Dan Blackburn beat his boyhood team for his first NHL win
On this day in 2001, Dan Blackburn won his first NHL game at 18 years and 148 days, the third-youngest goalie ever to win one (NHL Records). In only his second start for the Rangers, he stopped 22 of 23 shots in a 2-1 win in Montreal, and afterward he admitted he “grew up kind of dreaming I was going to play for the Montreal Canadiens.” The grin lasted a while: “It took about 10 minutes after I got off the ice until the smile went off my face” (AP via News On 6, NHL stats).
New York had drafted him 10th overall that June out of the WHL’s Kootenay Ice, and he finished the season on the NHL All-Rookie Team. The goalie he beat that night, José Théodore, went on to win the Hart and Vezina trophies that season (Wikipedia, Wikipedia).
Also on Oct. 15
- 2005: Dominik Hasek won his 300th NHL game, with 34 saves for Ottawa against Boston (NHL stats).
- 2008: Henrik Lundqvist played his 200th NHL game (NHL stats).
- 2013: Carey Price made 36 saves in Winnipeg for his 20th NHL shutout (NHL stats).
- 2014: Tuukka Rask played his 200th NHL game, a win in Detroit (NHL stats).
- 2015 and 2016: Devan Dubnyk won his 100th NHL game in Arizona, then played his 300th a year later to the day, against Winnipeg (NHL stats), (NHL stats).
- 2016: Toronto retired No. 1 for Turk Broda and Johnny Bower at the Maple Leafs’ centennial home opener (NHL.com).
- 2024: Filip Gustavsson scored a goal in Minnesota’s win in St. Louis (NHL stats).
Game and win counts are from the NHL’s current stats, which can differ from the totals of the day.
On InGoal: Every NHL goalie goal.
Have goalie news, a big save, a signing, or a coaching hire? Send it to news@ingoalmag.com.