Redemption, for lack of a better term, has been a long time coming for goalie Alex Stalock.
More than six years after his first playoff start, which was decided in contentious fashion, Stalock is again getting the chance to take center stage in the postseason.
Stalock made 28 saves Sunday night as the Minnesota Wild beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-0 to take a 1-0 series lead in the NHL’s best-of-five qualification round at Rogers Place in Edmonton. It was the first career NHL postseason win for Stalock, who will no doubt be in net again Tuesday night for Game 2.
“His compete is as high as anybody’s,” Wild coach Dean Evason said after the game. “That’s all we’ve seen from this whole tournament so far, so to have a guy in there that’s going to battle and compete like he does, we felt very comfortable and we really liked his game (Sunday).”
Stalock’s first career playoff start came April 28, 2014 when the Sharks played the Los Angeles Kings in Game 6 of their first-round series.
It was an unforgettable game and series for the Sharks, for all of the wrong reasons.
After the Sharks had won the first three games of the best-of-seven series, the Kings won Game 4 at Staples Center. Then with a chance to advance on home ice, the Sharks instead put forth a putrid performance in Game 5.
The Sharks fell behind by two goals in the first 13 minutes, and starting goalie Antti Niemi was pulled 22 seconds into the second period when the Kings took a 3-0 lead. Stalock came in and looked sharp for the final 39 minutes, making 22 saves.
Then-coach Todd McLellan decided to stay with Stalock for Game 6 in Los Angeles as the Sharks looked to change the momentum of the series. Stalock looked dialed in early on, stopping 16 of 17 shots through the first two periods as the game entered the third period tied 1-1.
Then, with just over eight minutes to go in the third period, controversy struck.
Kings defenseman Robin Regehr put a shot on goal that was stopped by Stalock, who kept his pads on the ice. The puck was under Stalock’s left skate, but still visible to referee Chris Lee, who was stationed to the left of the Sharks’ net and did not blow the whistle. He kept his eyes on the puck and not Kings forward Justin Williams.
Williams, fighting off a check from Joe Pavelski in front of the net, pushed Stalock backward, which caused the puck to cross the goal line, giving the Kings the lead. Los Angeles would go on to win 4-1.
NHL rule 69.6 says, “In the event that a goalkeeper has been pushed into the net together with the puck by an attacking player after making a stop, the goal will be disallowed. If applicable, appropriate penalties will be assessed.
In the event that the puck is under a player in or around the crease area (deliberately or otherwise), a goal cannot be scored by pushing this player together with the puck into the goal.”
The play was not reviewable.
“We got cheated,” McLellan said after the game. “Simple as that. I was told that you could see the puck laying behind his feet the whole time.”
“(The puck) was still,” Stalock said. “Something had to be done for the puck to be moved into the net.”
Niemi started Game 7 in San Jose, but it didn’t matter. After defenseman Matt Irwin scored 28 seconds into the second period for a 1-0 Sharks lead, the Kings responded with five straight goals, including two empty-netters in the final 2:07 of regulation time to complete the reverse sweep.
Stalock remained with the Sharks for another 1 1/2 seasons before he was traded to Toronto in the deal that brought James Reimer to San Jose.
Stalock signed as a free agent with the Wild in July 2016 and after almost a full year in the AHL, had largely been Devyn Dubnyk’s backup for the last two-plus seasons, quietly putting up solid numbers.
Stalock took over as the Wild’s No. 1 goalie in January and got hot before the NHL paused its season on March 12. From Jan. 5 to March 7, Stalock went 11-5-2 with a .920 save percentage in 18 games.
“I watch a lot of his games and I’m very happy to see him doing well,” Logan Couture said of Stalock on March 5 before the Sharks played the Wild at SAP Center. “He’s aggressive, he plays the puck well, he’s very athletic. For a smaller guy in the net, he battles extremely hard.”
Stalock stayed true to form against the Canucks.
“Made some key saves at key moments. But honestly, he was calm,” Evason said. “He competes, he battles, he’s explosive, but he’s a calming effect in there.”
“Excited to get a chance to start in the playoffs,” Stalock said. “Any time you can play an important game, the most important game of the season so far. Played a good game. We came out and played exactly how we wanted to play intensity-wise and stuck to the game plan.”
