VIDEO: Fans erupt when Erik Kallgren skates out for back-to-back first star nods
Erik Kallgren's rise from relative obscurity to NHL stardom has been a rapid one, but the 25-year-old rookie is doing his best to take it all in stride, despite what a surreal experience it has been for him.
Thrust into the limelight in Toronto in relief of backup Petr Mrazek on March 10th against the Arizona Coyotes, Kallgren went on to stop 10 of 11 shots, helping backstop the Leafs to a 5-4 OT loss to the Yotes and picking up a valuable point in the standings after Mrazek had allowed 4 goals on 12 shots in the contest.
The Leafs would go back to Mrazek for the Heritage Classic on March 13th, but after the 30-year-old allowed 4 goals and failing to post a save percentage above .900 since the end of February, the writing was on the wall and the net was handed over to Kallgren for the past two games against the Dallas Stars and Carolina Hurricanes.
The Swedish netminder made 35 saves against the Stars, pitching a shutout for the Buds in his first career NHL start, and followed that up by putting up a 34-save performance against the Carolina Hurricanes, one of the NHL's top teams, en route to back-to-back first star of the game honours.
I don't know when the last time I heard the Scotiabank Arena erupt the way it did for Kallgren's curtain calls for each of his first star of the game nods. Here are a couple of clips.
If that doesn't give you chills, then I don't know what will. The energy that this kid feeds to the fans simply by doing his job and being in a good position to make saves is electric. I don't know if it's a sign of the tide turning in Toronto or an indictment on the horrendous goaltending the Leafs have received so far in 2022, but either way, we'll take it.
Kallgren will look to make it 3 straight wins when he gets the nod on Saturday night in Nashville.
| POLL | ||
MARS 18 | 269 ANSWERS VIDEO: Fans erupt when Erik Kallgren skates out for back-to-back first star nods Have you ever heard the Leafs' hometown crowd erupt for a goalie the way they do for Kallgren? | ||
| Never | 27 | 10 % |
| Not in a long time | 102 | 37.9 % |
| I dunno.. They've given Soupy a lot of love | 120 | 44.6 % |
| Not since CuJo | 20 | 7.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
