Back-up goalies have to be ready for anything in the NHL.
An injury or infraction could send you into the game with barely any warmup and you’ll have to face shots right away – or at least that’s what most relief goaltenders have to do.
Ryan Miller was not most relief goalies last night. He received one of the weirdest wins in NHL history, so if you’re into NHL trivia, this is a good one for you. Ryan Miller recorded a win without ever facing on an official shot. It all started in the third period when starting goalie John Gibson went down after a weird fall from Blake Wheeler.
After that, Miller was forced to enter the net with the game tied 3-3 and 6:40 left in the third period. So, not only was Miller cold, but he was entering the game at a pivotal moment. Luckily for him, despite the game going to a shootout, he didn’t have to face a single shot (Other than the shootout attempts, which don’t count as official shots).
Anaheim ended up winning in the shootout, so Miller was credited with the win, without registered any stat on the score sheet except playing for 11 minutes and 40 seconds.
A win is a win and this one actually gave Miller an all-time league-leading total of 59 shootout wins.
