Ullmark Matches Emery’s 6-0 Start, and Why NHL Goalies Want EBUGs in Practice
Plus: Spencer Knight's overtime stop on Neal Pionk's two-on-one, James Reimer joins Hartford on a tryout, NCAA goalie Mikhail Yegorov built his own stats website, Sheffield's Matt Greenfield raffles his helmet for the children's hospital, and to close, Roberto Luongo's 200th win, 18 years ago today
In this edition 9 stories
NHL
Save of the night
International
NHLUllmark's 6-0 start matches Ray Emery's, and he credits his goalie coaches
Linus Ullmark made 20 saves on 21 shots against the Islanders on Thursday, then turned away all three of their shootout attempts, from Brayden Schenn, Bo Horvat, and Simon Holmström. Shane Pinto had the only shootout goal, Ottawa won 2-1, and Ullmark was the first star (NHL game center). The perfect shootout made him 17-9 in 26 career shootouts, and of every goalie who has been in at least 25, he has stopped the highest share of attempts: 70 of 88, or .796, ahead of Petr Mrazek (.776, 90 of 116) and Juuse Saros (.768, 106 of 138). Murray Pam pointed it out, with numbers from @HockeyHStove (Murray Pam on X), and InGoal confirmed every one of those shootouts against the NHL’s game data. Kevin Lankinen has the best mark of all, .883 (53 of 60), but in 15 shootouts.
He has now started six games and won all six, with a 1.20 goals-against average and a .949 save percentage, and his 197th career win leaves him three short of 200 (NHL.com). Counting the end of last season, he has won 10 straight (The Canadian Press).
Before this season, only Dominik Hasek and Ray Emery, both in 2005-06, had opened a season for Ottawa with five straight wins (NHL.com). By InGoal’s count from NHL game data, Hasek’s run ended in his sixth start, while Emery won his first six starts; his next appearance was a three-minute relief stint with no decision, and the start after that was an overtime loss in Calgary (NHL.com, NHL.com). So Ullmark now shares the franchise’s best start with Emery, and one more win would give it to him alone.
Ullmark shared the credit around, from the training staff to his crease partner and the coaches: “My relationship with Sammy (Ersson) and conversations and the work that me, (goaltending coach Justin Peters) and (coordinator of goaltending scouting and development Maciej Szwoch) are putting down this fall have come bearing fruit.” Pinto, who scored the winner, said clean shots “aren’t going to beat him,” and added: “Just so solid. His rebound control, everything. Like he’s going to make the save most of the time” (The Canadian Press).
On InGoal: Linus Ullmark’s Pro Reads, goaltending coach Justin Peters, and InGoal Radio Episode 205 with Arturs Silovs and Samuel Ersson.
NHLOettinger and Grubauer on why a third goalie in practice will help
The new rule that every NHL team carry an emergency backup goalie isn’t only about emergencies. In his Unmasked column on NHL.com, InGoal co-founder Kevin Woodley looks at teams that plan to use that third goalie in practice so their two regulars can do less, and the goalies are in favour (NHL.com).
Jake Oettinger of the Dallas Stars expects fewer injuries: “I think that having a third goalie, goalie injuries are going to go down a lot because of that.” He told Woodley he often stays in drills longer than he needs to so his teammates aren’t left without a goalie. The column puts a number on the strain: each butterfly drop sends about twice a goalie’s body weight through the pads, around 450 pounds in Oettinger’s case.
Seattle’s Philipp Grubauer has wanted a third goalie for years. After a long string of shots, he said, goalies stop playing them as hard or as well, and bad habits creep in; a third goalie lets them swap out and come back for short bursts at game pace. “It definitely used to be the guy who doesn’t play gets trapped in there,” he said (NHL.com).
Utah already works this way. Its EBUG, Colten McIntyre, 22, from Park City, travelled with the team last season and, on road game days, faced the top power-play unit while Karel Vejmelka and Vitek Vanecek warmed up at the other end. Vejmelka led the NHL with 64 appearances and 63 starts last season, and coach André Tourigny said of the EBUG: “It helps a lot on the load management.” EBUGs also get the same pad checks as any NHL goalie, by Kay Whitmore of the NHL’s hockey operations department (NHL.com). Vejmelka was in goal again on Thursday and made 22 saves on 24 shots in Utah’s 4-2 win in Edmonton (NHL game center).
On InGoal: InGoal Radio Episode 176 with Jake Oettinger, Pro Drills with Philipp Grubauer, Pro Drills with Karel Vejmelka and Jaxson Stauber, and the EBUGs Toronto and Calgary hired, in our Oct. 15 edition.
Save of the nightKnight on Pionk
Winnipeg and Chicago were tied 3-3, 35 seconds into three-on-three overtime, when Mark Scheifele and Neal Pionk came in on a two-on-one against Spencer Knight. Scheifele set up Pionk, and Knight stopped him. Then Knight did the other half of the job: rather than freeze the puck for a faceoff in his own end, he quickly moved it to defenceman Alex Vlasic, which matters in three-on-three, where possession is everything. Twelve seconds later Frank Nazar had a shot on Stuart Skinner at the other end (NHL game center). About a minute later Artyom Levshunov scored to give the Blackhawks a 4-3 win. “Yeah, he made a great save,” Pionk said. “(Mark Scheifele) made a great play” (NHL.com). Knight finished with 31 saves on 34 shots (NHL game center).
On InGoal: InGoal Radio Episode 190 with Spencer Knight and Pro Tips with Spencer Knight.
AHLJames Reimer, 38, signs a tryout with Hartford
The Hartford Wolf Pack, the Rangers’ AHL affiliate, have signed James Reimer to a professional tryout, and the 38-year-old from Morweena, Man., meets the team in Charlotte this weekend. Ryan Martin, the Rangers’ associate GM and Hartford’s GM, announced the move on Thursday (HartfordWolfPack.com).
It fills a need. With Joonas Korpisalo injured, the Rangers have Dylan Garand and Spencer Martin in New York, and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman had said earlier in the day that Hartford might bring in a goalie (Sportsnet).
Reimer went 7-4-2 with a shutout in 14 games for Ottawa last season. Over 16 NHL seasons he has played 539 games for eight teams (Toronto, Florida, Carolina, San Jose, Detroit, Anaheim, Buffalo, and Ottawa), with 232 wins and 32 shutouts (HartfordWolfPack.com).
He has won games for seven of those eight teams, all but Anaheim (NHL.com). If the Rangers call him up and he wins, he would become the fourth goalie to win for eight NHL franchises, with Sean Burke, Ron Tugnutt and Curtis McElhinney, one behind the record Cam Talbot set on Oct. 9 when he won his Columbus debut, his ninth (TSN).
On InGoal: James Reimer’s Pro Reads and InGoal Radio Episode 267 with James Reimer.
CollegeYegorov built his own goalie stats website, and Callaway's first NCAA shutout
Boston University’s Mikhail Yegorov, the second goalie taken in the 2024 NHL Draft (New Jersey, second round), doesn’t think save percentage or goals-against average tell you much about a goalie, so he built his own website, yegorovstats.com, the Boston Globe’s Andrew Mahoney reports. It tracks expected performance and rebound control, among other measures, and comes with a glossary.
The idea goes back to his freshman year, when BU goalie coach Brian Daccord, the founder of Stop It Goaltending, used that company’s app to break down each game. After Daccord left for the Red Wings, Yegorov had his replacement, Cam Doomany, help him keep tracking his numbers as a sophomore, first in a spreadsheet and then on the site. His Instagram post about it, headed “Save percentage is a lie,” drew more than 7,500 likes and a segment on NHL Network. “The feedback from the goalie community was amazing,” Yegorov said. Coach Jay Pandolfo wasn’t surprised: “He just thinks differently, and it’s kind of pretty cool to see.” Yegorov has allowed one goal in BU’s two wins at Alaska Fairbanks to open the season.
Around the NCAA
- Bailey Callaway made 19 saves in Boston College’s 5-0 win over Merrimack on Wednesday for the first shutout of her NCAA career, in her fourth season with the Eagles (College Hockey News, College Hockey Inc.).
- Louka Cloutier stopped all 28 St. Cloud State shots as Boston College’s men won 4-0 on Thursday (College Hockey News).
On InGoal: InGoal Radio Episode 318 with Joey and Brian Daccord.
InternationalSheffield's Matt Greenfield raffles his helmet for the children's hospital
Sheffield Steelers goalie Matt Greenfield is raffling off the helmet he wore in games last season, again, for Sheffield Children’s Hospital. Tickets are £5. In his post he wrote that the hospital’s emergency department was built to see 24,000 children and now sees 62,000 (Matt Greenfield on X).
Greenfield, an American, played four seasons at the University of Calgary and then in the ECHL with Kansas City before he joined the Steelers of the UK’s Elite Ice Hockey League in 2022. He is in his fifth season in Sheffield, with 237 games for the club, and is signed through at least 2027-28 (Sheffield Steelers).
On InGoal: InGoal Radio Episode 216 with Matt Greenfield and Pro Drills: Rob Tallas and the “Greenfield drill”.
InternationalPertuch steps in for Düsseldorf, Normann blanks Linköping
Around Europe
- In Germany’s DEL, the Düsseldorfer EG has added Nico Pertuch, 21, on a development licence from the Löwen Frankfurt while Jonas Langmann is injured; he will wear No. 1. Pertuch, from Landshut, has played 49 DEL2 games and five in the DEL, and he has often been called up to Germany’s junior national teams. Sporting director Rich Chernomaz said Pertuch has already shown what he can do in the DEL2 and in the DEL, and “I’m convinced he can help us at this stage” (translated from German) (Düsseldorfer EG).
- Tobias Normann stopped all 20 shots for Frölunda HC in a 3-0 win at Linköping HC in the SHL (Sweden) on Thursday (Göteborgs-Posten, SHL).
JuniorLouis-Antoine Denault, 20, blanks Baie-Comeau
Notable performances in the CHL
- QMJHL: Louis-Antoine Denault, 20, stopped all 32 shots for the Newfoundland Regiment in a 2-0 win in Baie-Comeau on Thursday and was named first star (QMJHL game report).
HistoryLuongo's 200th win came 16 days after Vancouver made him captain
On this day in 2008, Roberto Luongo won his 200th NHL game, in Detroit, when Alexandre Burrows ended it 27 seconds into overtime for a 4-3 Canucks win. Two weeks and two days earlier, on Sept. 30, Vancouver had named him its 12th captain, which made him only the seventh goalie ever named an NHL captain (NHL.com). He made 32 saves on 35 shots that night, with Chris Osgood in the other net (NHL stats). Luongo went into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2022.
Trivia: Who are the other six goalies to have been named an NHL captain?
Show the answer
John Ross Roach (Toronto St. Patricks, 1924-25), George Hainsworth (Montreal Canadiens, 1932-33), Roy Worters (New York Americans, 1932-33), Alec Connell (Ottawa Senators, 1932-33), Charlie Gardiner (Chicago Black Hawks, 1933-34), and Bill Durnan (Montreal Canadiens, 1947-48) (hockeygoalies.org).
Gardiner is the only one who captained a Stanley Cup winner, with Chicago in 1934 (Original Hockey Hall of Fame). No goalie has been allowed the job since Durnan, so Vancouver’s choice of Luongo came with limits: he couldn’t wear the C on his sweater, though he had one painted on his mask, and Willie Mitchell and Mattias Öhlund looked after the captain’s duties during games (hockeygoalies.org).
Also on Oct. 16
- 1977: Ken Dryden played his 300th NHL game and marked it with a 22-save shutout for Montreal in Boston (NHL stats).
- 1979: Billy Smith played his 300th NHL game, a win for the Islanders over the Atlanta Flames (NHL stats).
- 2001: Félix Potvin played his 500th NHL game, for Los Angeles against Washington (NHL stats).
- 2003: Ed Belfour played his 800th NHL game, with 31 saves for Toronto in a 2-2 tie in New Jersey (NHL stats).
- 2008: Andrew Raycroft played his 200th NHL game, a Colorado win over Philadelphia (NHL stats).
- 2010: Nikolai Khabibulin played his 700th NHL game and made 41 saves for Edmonton in Calgary (NHL stats).
Game and win counts are from the NHL’s current stats, which can differ from the totals of the day.
On InGoal: InGoal Radio Episode 200 with Roberto Luongo and Luongo’s Hall of Fame career, defined by evolution and a drive to be the best.
Have goalie news, a big save, a signing, or a coaching hire? Send it to news@ingoalmag.com.