With just over a minute left in their game against the Calgary Flames at home Tuesday night, the Columbus Blue Jackets were frantically trying to preserve a one-goal lead.
Defenseman Rostislav Klesla gathered a loose puck, sent it off the glass on a clearing attempt ... and watched as his bank-shot traveled somewhere between 165 and 180 feet into Calgary's vacated net for the victory-sealing goal:
The Columbus Dispatch asked Klesla if it was by design:
Klesla was simply trying to chip the puck out of the zone with Iginla bearing down on him near the right face-off circle with 58 seconds remaining. He believes it was his first empty-net goal.
"I think it took a good bounce in the neutral zone there," Klesla said. "At that time you just want to clear the zone and make sure nobody keeps it in from their team. You hope one of your wingers will skate it in and make a play. It was just fortunate."
Wouldn't you, just once, love to hear an NHL player be like, "Yeah, I totally planned that. Canvassed the rink with a protractor before the game to understand the angles, and noticed a few chunks taken out of the neutral zone ice so I aimed for them. Oh yeah, and I called 'bank', like, in the second period, dude."
Good win for the Jackets Tuesday night, as Mathieu Garon won for the first time after being anointed starting goaltender. And if you're wondering why he's moved ahead of Steve Mason on the depth chart, check out this nugget from the Dispatch:
For whatever reason, the Blue Jackets are a stingier team in front of Mathieu Garon than Steve Mason. This season, Garon has faced one shot every 2 minutes, 18 seconds. Mason has faced a shot every 1 minute, 48 seconds. The club seems to play a more structured, composed game when the veteran Garon, 32, is in net.
Sometimes you see a shot disparity between goalies who share the load and you think teams feel the need to play more responsibly in front of one than the other, based on performance or reputation. But there's something to said for a goalie who's more "third defenseman" than "last line of defense," and that seems to be the difference between Garon and Mason this year.
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