Former Montreal Canadiens netminder Dustin Tokarski called it a career on Friday.
It’s the end of the road for netminder Dustin Tokarski. The 36-year-old didn’t exactly leave his mark in the NHL, having played only 86 NHL regular-season games with the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Montreal Canadiens, the Anaheim Ducks, the Buffalo Sabres, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Carolina Hurricanes. He finishes his career with a 27-36-12 record, a 3.08 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage. 26 of his regular-season contests were played with the Tricolore, but Tokarski will be best remembered by Habs fans for his role in the 2014 playoffs.
When Chris Kreider collided with Carey Price in the first game of the Eastern Conference Final against the New York Rangers, Peter Budaj came in relief. When it was announced that Price was done for the playoffs, fans and pundits alike believed that the Slovakian goaltender would be taking over between the pipes, but the Sainte-Flanelle opted to turn to Tokarski instead.
The then-24-year-old put up a great fight in the five games he started, and although the Rangers won the series 4-2, Tokarski earned the only two playoff wins of his career and posted a 2.60 GAA and a .916 SV. Those playoffs will forever remain one of the biggest “what if” scenarios for the Canadiens: just how far would they have gone had Price not been injured? We’ll never know. However, it’s not as if they were obliterated because of subpar goaltending; Tokarski did well, and when the Habs were eliminated in Game 6, it was by a score of 1-0.
The goalkeeper spent most of his career in the AHL, playing parts of 16 seasons in that league, and picked up 208 wins (ninth all-time), 30 shutouts (eighth all-time) and two Calder Cup championships with the Norfolk Admirals and the Charlotte Checkers.
Tokarski last played in the NHL with the Hurricanes in 2024-25, and he will now work with the organization as a goaltending scout.
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.
Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.
Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens' roundtable on The Hockey News.
