While many hockey fans, writers and players cannot stand the shootout, seeing it as nothing more than a gimmick, it does provide a team with the opportunity to leave the building with an additional point if you can pull off the victory. With back-to-back shootout victories Jets rookie goalie Michael Hutchinson has shown that he has no fear when it comes to this aspect of the game. In fact he has won all four shootouts he has been a part of and has stopped 14 of the 14 shots he has faced.
Photo Credit: Devon Edie
Dating back to last season when the Jets beat the Bruins in the shootout, he has also accomplished this feat against the Kings, Red Wings and now the Oilers. Here is a list of the shooters he faced in those contests (you can click on the players name and it will show you their shootout attempt vs. Hutchinson):
April 10th, 2014 vs. Bruins: Reilly Smith, Ryan Spooner and Brad Marchand.
January 10th, 2015 vs. Kings: Drew Doughty, Tyler Lewis, Jeff Carter and Mike Richards.
February 14th, 2015 vs. Red Wings: Pavel Datsyuk, Tomas Tartar, Gustav Nyquist and Stephen Weiss.
February 16th, 2015 vs. Oilers: Nail Yakupov, Derek Roy and Jordan Eberle.
When I spoke to him about his shootout prowess following the Oilers game he shrugged it off as inconsequential saying “it’s one of those things that you don’t really think about. It’s one of those things that is cool right now and I’ve been able to have success but at the same time the only thing that matters is winning. If you end up letting in three goals in the shootout and you win, it doesn’t matter, it’s the same outcome. I just try and make the saves and help the team win.”
How much longer might this streak continue? As always stay tuned to @illegalcurve for the latest Jets news.
