Do you remember when you were young and your coaches kept telling you never to give up on a play?
To keep playing until the whistle sounded?
Yeah, Sami Vatanen was listening.
There have been a lot of good saves in the NHL this year. Great ones, too. But most of them have come from goalies -- the ones tasked with, and paid for, stopping the puck.
Vatanen’s job, as a defenseman, is to prevent shots. But every once and a while he, too, is called upon to keep the puck out of the net. And he did one hell of a job doing so on Friday night against the Ottawa Senators.
Just watch this sequence above. It’s incredible.
NEWARK, NJ - DECEMBER 21: Sami Vatanen #45 of the New Jersey Devils blocks a shot by Brady Tkachuk #7 of the Ottawa Senators during the second period at the Prudential Center on December 21, 2018 in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils defeated the Senators 5-2.(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Getty Images
There’s Vatanen flailing across the crease to try and keep the puck from entering the net. And he does it so perfectly.
The result, too, is spectacular, with the Devils going in on a 2-on-1 and Hall scoring.
The moral of the story here is never give up. You never know what might happen.
Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck