When Antti Niemi came to Montreal earlier this year, many assumed he’d just further the impending tank job that was on the horizon. He’d been run out of Pittsburgh, then run out of Florida after a disastrous start to the year.
Marc Bergevin claimed him off the waiver wire, and coming into last night’s game against Colorado, he had a 2-1-1 record along with a .929 save percentage and 2.47 goals-against average. That’s massively above what was expected from the Finnish netminder.
Against the Colorado Avalanche, Niemi pulled a repeat of his Super Bowl weekend performance against the Anaheim Ducks, standing on his head when his teammates faltered, and giving them a chance to get back into the game.