Even A Goaltender Needs Saving Sometimes
Seattle Kraken All-Star Oliver Bjorkstrand scored his 20th goal Monday in a 4-2 win at San Jose.
Saturday at Climate Pledge Arena against the Dallas Stars, Bjorkstrand gave a master class on how to prevent a goal.
Bjorkstrand, #22 in blue, observes the action roughly a two-hour drive from the Kraken crease.
In the 2nd period of a then-scoreless game, Seattle netminder Joey Daccord (hidden) has just made a save.
However, he's vulnerable should Dallas corral the rebound. That's exactly what happens.
Stars left wing Jason Robertson (#21 in white), who's scored 40+ goals each of the last two seasons, appears to have easy pickins' for number 28 this year.
Robertson has defty maneuvered the puck to his backhand, wide of Daccord's outstretched left pad.
Bjorkstrand, seeing what's about to happen, dashes toward the crease behind his goalie with the open net yawning.
Crucially, the Kraken winger racing to intercept the puck adopts a kneeling position.
This allows him to cover the greatest possible portion of the net along the ice, as the puck rolls through the blue paint.
He's done it! The puck deflects harmlessly to the corner.
For some reason, skaters can't be credited with a "save." Bjorkstrand's effort is officially labeled a block, just as if he'd made the same play at center ice.
But Robertson's shot was on goal, and if not for Bjorkstrand's athleticism and quick thinking, it would have been in the goal.
Watch the sequence in slow motion as it unfolded in today's Kraken Reaction video.