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Tonight’s great goalie performances: Thomas earns 7th win, Chris Mason stops 52 shots

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James O’Brien

While Brent Johnson’s great start to the season is coming to a screeching halt in Dallas, two other goalies played excellent hockey tonight. The first performer shouldn’t come as a surprise while the second one might raise a few eyebrows.


  • Gosh, Tim Thomas is really slipping isn’t he? He brought a .50 GAA into tonight’s game but allowed four times that many (two) tonight. Jeez, what a slacker.

In all seriousness, Thomas put another great performance together, stopping 33 out of 35 shots to help the Bruins beat the woeful Buffalo Sabres 5-2. He is now an amazing 7-0 to start the 2010-11 season, even if his numbers went from “impossible” to “improbable.”


  • When I think of goalies who fly under the radar, I think of Tomas Vokoun and Chris Mason. Normally, I would expect Vokoun to produce the better performance, but tonight Mason was probably the best goalie in the NHL.

He made a staggering 52 saves tonight to help the Atlanta Thrashers eek out a 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers.

To give you an idea of how much of a difference maker Mason was, the former Predators goalie faced as many shots (23) in the second period as Vokoun did in the entire game. Despite being out-shot 23-5 in that period, Mason helped the Thrashers keep the game tied 2-2. Those 55 shots tied a Florida Panthers record set against the Washington Capitals on December 18, 2005, yet Mason helped Atlanta steal the game.