Garret Sparks is one of the bright young stars in the Toronto Maple Leafs pipeline. The 24-year-old goaltender has been absolutely tearing up the AHL this year, posting a 1.79 goals against average during the regular season to go along with a .936 save percentage. Those would be Vezina numbers if they were in the NHL, a destination Sparks hopes to be able to reach once again someday.
When the Marlies found themselves in a do-or-die Game 5 against the Utica Comets (AHL playoffs are best of five, as opposed to best of seven in the NHL), they once again relied on their trustworthy goalie to get them through. Sparks delivered, posting a 4-0 shutout. While a shutout is always impressive, particularly in a game with such high stakes, the moment everyone is talking about is a barehanded save Sparks was able to make while coming across his net.
You would have to assume a barehanded save has got to hurt, but Sparks showed little reaction to the feat. Sparks and the Marlies team will now move on to round two of the playoffs where they hope to keep a season going that could only really be described as dominant. The Marlies finished first in the league by a mile, posting a .733 win percentage.
Hopefully round two won’t bring Sparks any more glove-loss moments, but if it does you can bet he’ll have a good shot at making the stop anyway.
(H/T Twitter/Toronto Marlies)
