Backup goalie steps up - Nashville, Tennessee - Friday, 01/05/07 - Tennessean.com
Heading into tonight's game against the Blackhawks, the Predators (26-11-3) still have one of the Western Conference's three best records and are tied for first with the Red Wings in the Central Division after Detroit lost 9-4 to San Jose on Thursday.
Clearly the entire team deserves recognition for maintaining status quo. But a huge chunk of credit has to go to backup goalie Chris Mason, who stepped into the void and put up numbers every bit as impressive as Vokoun's.
The same Mason who'd played only 44 NHL games coming into this season has started 19
consecutive games — the second-longest stretch in the league this season — and produced a record of 12-6-1, goals against average of 2.24 and save percentage of .929.
"To lose arguably one of the top two or three goalies in the league for that amount of time and keep right on going is pretty impressive,'' ESPN hockey analyst Barry Melrose said. "I'd say Chris Mason has definitely been a surprise, just because we didn't have much to measure him by in the past.
"I don't think it was a matter of underestimating him as much as it was a case of him not having that many chances. But that's one of the things you have to love about sports is that an injury to one player is an opportunity for another player to shine.''