With the Vancouver Canucks trailing the San Jose Sharks 2-0 in their first-round series, 27-year-old goaltender Cory Schneider will get a chance to play the hero.
Schneider is ready to return from an undisclosed injury after missing Games 1 and 2 of this series.
“I’m in tonight, I’m ready to play and I’m excited,” Schneider confirmed via the Canucks on Twitter.
After some early season struggles, Schneider bounced back and ended up with a superb 2.11 GAA and .927 save percentage in 30 regular season starts. This will be just his ninth playoff game, but he has a career 1.91 GAA and .940 save percentage in the postseason.
It’s worth noting that regardless of which goaltender the Canucks use, the rest of the team will likely need to step up too. They scored just three goals in the first two games of this series.
“Goaltending hasn’t be our issue at all,” Canucks coach Alain Vigneault told Sportsnet’s Mark Spector. “But we were going to start with (Schneider) in the playoffs. He’s good to go.”