Spencer Martin had waited a very long time to play in the NHL again – almost five years to be exact.
The 26-year-old goaltender finally got his chance on Friday when he made his debut for the COVID-hit Vancouver Canucks, stopping 33 shots in a 2-1 penalty shootout loss to the Florida Panthers.
“I just felt incredibly blessed knowing how hard it is to get to that level and how much experience[it takes]to get opportunities,” he said. “But it felt incredible to be given a chance.”
Martin was pushed into action after Vancouver’s star goalie Thatcher Demko was placed on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol on Thursday. Back-up goalkeeper Jaroslav Halak is also out after testing positive for the virus last week.
Prior to Friday’s contest, Martin had only played three NHL games (0-2-1), all for the Colorado Avalanche in 2017.
The Oakville, Ontario native has split this season between Vancouver’s Taxi squad and the American Hockey League’s Abbotsford Canucks, where he has a 5-0-2 record with a .921 save percentage and 2.24 goals against average .
Martin admitted he wondered if he would ever start in an NHL game again, but was excited to get the chance on Friday.
“I wasn’t as excited as I thought I would be to experience how much it means to me to get a game,” he said. “But (the rest of the team) kept it really simple from a goalkeeping perspective, so they made it easy for me.”
After years behind the bench in the AHL, Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau knows the talent in the underage.
“I love it when American League players who’ve been there for a while get opportunities and show what they can do. Because often a lot of good players are overlooked because of their age or for whatever reason, and they are really good players,” he said.
“To have Spencer come in and play a game like that against – I think they’re the top-scoring team in the league – I thought was really impressive.”
COVID also left the Canucks’ front lines exhausted on Friday, with Bo Horvat, JT Miller and Conor Garland also on the record.
Earning a point in difficult circumstances against one of the best teams in the NHL is important for the Canucks, Boudreau said.
“I hope it gives them the belief that if you play right you can play with anyone – and we played right tonight,” he said. “That’s pretty good what the message is. We played against a hungry team tonight.”
Aleksander Barkov scored the shootout winner, running in at speed and shoving a one-handed backhand shot past Martin from the top of the crease. Anton Lindell also scored in the shootout for the Panthers (28-8-5).
Florida’s Sam Reinhart forced overtime with a power play goal early in the third period, and Alex Chiasson had the only goal for Vancouver (18-18-4).
Spencer Knight had 27 saves for the Panthers, who came on the second night of back-to-back games after giving the Edmonton Oilers a 6-0 drubbing on Thursday.
Friday’s win cost the entire team, Knight said.
“We have to stick together, stay tuned,” he said. “Not scoring can be frustrating and sticking with it and then just waiting for a chance and that’s how it is sometimes. We’re not going to score five goals every night. We have to find other ways to win.”
Vancouver played its first home game since Dec. 14 due to league COVID-19 outbreaks and postponements due to capacity constraints. Crowds at Rogers Arena have been capped at 50 percent by provincial health regulations.
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Florida dominated overtime, locking the Canucks in their own end and forcing Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Juho Lahmmikko and Matthew Highmore to stay on the ice for three minutes and 14 seconds.
The home side kept the Panthers off the scoring charts for two periods before scoring a power-play goal early in the third.
Vancouver’s Nils Hoglander was called upon to bring down Brandon Montour just 27 seconds into the third and Florida pressed with man advantage.
Anthony Duclair threw a puck to the front of the net and Reinhart, stationed at the top of the crease, hit with a backhand shot to make it 1-1 at the 1:41 mark.
“(Reinhart) is such a big part of our team and such an important part that we can move him anywhere and he was really good on the power play,” said Panthers caretaker coach Andrew Brunette.
“The power play has been really good lately and that’s been a big goal for us because you come into those games where you put the keeper on the other side that it’s his first start and he feels it and we have really having trouble getting anything from him, so it was a big, timely goal.
Florida was 1-2 on the power play and Vancouver went 1-4.
The Canucks opened the gate to 16:18 into the game.
With Owen Tippett in the box to slash, Quinn Hughes launched a rocket off the point. Tanner Pearson tapped the shot and the puck caught Chiasson on that hip before pinging off the bar and into it.
The goal prompted chants of “Bruce, there it is!” to the melody of the rap classic “Whoomp! (There it is).” The chants have been a staple of Vancouver games since Bruce Boudreau was installed as the team’s head coach on Dec. 5.
READ MORE: Demko makes 31 saves as Canucks earn 3-1 win over slithering Nashville Predators
One of Martin’s biggest stops on Friday was a power play in Florida midway through the first period.
Reinhart shot wide of the post and sent the puck over the goal to Barkov on the other side of the crease. The center turned up and unleashed a missile, but Martin slid into position and brought the pad to a stop.
The Canucks will continue their homestand Sunday when they host the St. Louis Blues. The Panthers meet the Kraken in Seattle that night.
NOTES: The Panthers defeated the Canucks 5-2 on Jan. 11. … The visitors were without Sam Bennett, who sustained a lower-body injury in Florida’s win over the Oilers on Thursday. … Martin’s first game for the Canucks came exactly five years after his NHL debut with the Avs.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
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