Goaltender Antero Niittymaki’s Career-Best Stretch Is Carrying The Tampa Bay Lightning
Posted by TheHockeyGuy on February 12th, 2010
Lightning coach Rick Tocchet said he will be hanged if he doesn’t play goaltender Antero Niittymaki tonight against the Bruins.
By whom? The players? Fans?
“No, no,” Tocchet said, insisting he spoke in jest. “But the kid is 7-0-1. I’d be crazy not to. You ride him. He’s a hot hand.”
Scorching, really, though Niittymaki’s record in his past eight starts doesn’t tell the whole story.
It’s one thing to win. It’s another to carry a team that during a 7-1-1 roll has scored 22 goals, a paltry 2.4 average, though that is plenty when your goalie is in a stretch with a 1.09 goals-against average and .965 save percentage in the seven wins and one shootout loss.
“He’s been amazing,” defenseman Andrej Meszaros said.
Please, Niittymaki said, “It’s not that huge a deal.”
“You’re just relaxed and patient and wait for the puck to come to you,” he said Wednesday at the Ice Sports Forum. “I’m not out there in a zone. You feel good and things are going good. That’s about it.”
Click here to read the full article – By St. Petersburg Times
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