Opening night in the NHL carries enough energy and anticipation to fill a fan with nervous excitement. We can only imagine how the players feel as they step onto the ice and try to figure out what their season ahead will be like.
Of all the positions, there’s likely none that this rings more true with than the goaltender.
You often hear commentators mention the fact that some goalies like to get their first few saves out of the way so that they can settle into the feel of the game a little easier. There has likely never, EVER, been a better example of this than Martin Jones and his unthinkably strange tendancy to let in a goal before recording a save.
Facing his first shot of the season, Jones has an embarrassing .200 save percentage over the last two seasons. While the odds of this continuing on Thursday are slim, it’s probably safe to say that Jones likely knows about this, and it may be in his head a little bit.
Here’s to hoping Jones has a puck flipped in on him from the blue line and that counts as his first shot faced. As long as he doesn’t let that in too…
(H/T Kevin Kurz)
