Halak’s Amazing Save Sends the Blues to a Shootout

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHLmA-hF8PQ&w=420&h=315] Though the Blues fell to the Colorado Avalanche last night in a shootout, the mere fact that they made it to a shootout purely lies on Jaroslav Halak’s heroic saves to end the game. Following making several big stops as regulation expired, Halak loomed large once again in OT, keeping the Blues in the hunt.

Overall, the effort from the Blues in OT left a lot to be desired. The Avalanche simply “brought it” and the Blues struggled to clear the puck from their own end. Halak, who has been on his game his past several starts, rose to the challenge, making timely save after timely save. Finally, with roughly 20 seconds to go, a shot was fired that hit his stick and rolled up and over his body, landing on the ice behind him. As the puck headed towards the line, Halak reached back and swatted the puck away keeping the team’s hopes alive of securing two points.

As we all know, Halak’s efforts ultimately went unrewarded but he had a pretty exceptional game. Brian Elliott has done a great job of keeping the spotlight off of Halak, and while he has stolen the show, Halak has quietly turned in several solid performances. He has allowed two goals or fewer in seven of his last eight performances. His GAA has dropped to a respectable 2.40 and his save percentage has climbed to .903%.