The top five saves of 2019-20 so far

We’re not quite mid-way through the 2019-2020 season yet, but this seems like a good time to take a look back over the last three months and remind you of some of the spectacular saves we’ve seen so far this season. Simply put, there have been a lot of them. We could easily have done a top 50 list. Instead, we decided to drill it down to the Top Five jaw-dropping stops so far, and they are jaw-dropping, no doubt about it. 

Number 5 - Semyon Varlamov

This is actually a pretty recent one. In the 2^nd period of a game between the New York Islanders and Boston Bruins on December 19^th, Varlamov absolutely robbed Anders Bjork who received a perfect cross-crease feed from defenseman Charlie MacAvoy. Varlamov made the push off the right-hand post, putting himself in perfect position for the huge glove save. The Islanders would win the game 3-2 in a shootout. 

Number 4 – Keith Kinkaid

Usually when you talk about big saves by a Montreal goaltender, it’s Carey Price. This time, however, Keith Kinkaid steals the spotlight with a beautiful cartwheel glove save on Minnesota’s Jason Zucker during a game on October 20^th. It’s been a tough season for Kinkaid. After failing to live up to what the team was hoping for when he was signed as the backup netminder in the offseason, he was sent to the AHL in favour of Cayden Primeau. Kinkaid has been with Laval ever since. Hopefully getting the number four spot is a little bit of consolation for him. Unfortunately for Kinkaid, the Wild would win this game 4-3 but the save is still one of the nicest of the season so far.

Number 3 - Jonathan Quick

Quick, like Kinkaid, is not having a great season. Quick’s issues are mostly connected to the Kings having a terrible season that isn’t likely to turn around any time soon. That said, Quick can sometimes return to form and look like the goalie that helped his team capture the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014. This series of saves against the Pittsburgh Penguins in overtime on December 14^th showed just that, with the third being the most impressive. Unfortunately for Quick, his team would go on to lose 5-4 in a shootout. 

Number 2 - Tuukka Rask

There isn’t a whole lot to say about this one other than it’s flat-out beautiful. In the third period of a game against the Buffalo Sabres on November 21^st, Rask made a catching save with his blocker hand to keep his team up 3-1 that has to be seen to be believed. Rask’s Boston Bruins would hang on to win this game 3-2, making this save that much more important.

Number 1 – Marc-Andre Fleury

Seeing Rask’s save at number two likely meant you were expecting this one to take the top spot. To be completely honest, number one and two are likely interchangeable and if you put 100 people in a room, you’d probably have a pretty even split on who made the best save. So why Fleury at number one? It wasn’t just the save, which is spectacular, but the consequences that came with it. With a disappointing start to the season, Toronto had lost three straight games and many were expecting that coach Mike Babcock would end up taking the fall for the team’s awful play through the first month-and-a-half (approximately). With the Maple Leafs losing 3-2 to Vegas with just under four minutes left in the game, Fleury would make the fantastic glove save on Nic Petan, sealing the win for his team and the fate of Mike Babcock, who would be fired the next day. Babcock’s dismissal then set off a series of events that would lead to him being publicly shamed by former players for his treatment of them and, ultimately, Akim Aliu’s revelation of racial slurs being aimed at him by then Calgary coach Bill Peters which would eventually result in Peters stepping down from his role. He hasn’t been heard from since. But, hey, were sure all Fleury was thinking about was stopping the puck. And that’s exactly what he did, in spectacular fashion. The Golden Knights would go on to win 4-2. Enjoy!

Disagree with the top five order? Are there any that were missed that should have been included in this list? Let us know on the comments section.