He was thrown among the wolves and ended up under an avalanche. However, Adam Huska should still get a second chance – SPORT.sk

The Rangers have a busy goalkeeper position, so even before the season, it was known that injuries or other unforeseen circumstances would have to happen for the Slovak goalkeeper to stand between the three poles.

The first team in the NHL is a pair of Russian goalkeepers Igor Sestorkin and Alexandar Georgiev. The more experienced Keith Kinkaid works on the farm in the Hartford Wolf Pack team together with Adam Husek. However, Šestorkin was injured and Kinkaid had a positive coronavirus test, so they called Adam Huska into the first team.

They were expected to get a chance as they had a challenging program. From December 5, when Huska first covered Georgie’s back, until December 18, they had eight duels on the program.

The first two matches were watched by a native of Zvolen only from the substitute, both were against the Chicago Blackhawks and were winning 3: 2 and 6: 2. This was followed by a match with one of the most offensive teams with the Colorado Avalanche, and coach Gerard Gallant decided to send Adam Husa into the goal.

For comparison, Georgiev faced 27 and 26 shots against the Blackhawks, Avalanche fired 39 shots at Húska and the defense didn’t help him much.

Adam Huska in the New York Rangers – Colorado Avalanche match

Source: TASR

“They threw him among the wolves,” journalist described his deployment in the match The Athletic Arthur Staple. Already in the first period, Húska faced 19 shots and he did relatively well. Not only did Mikka Rantanen try behind the defender, the Rangers even won the first act 2: 1.

In the second 20-minute period, however, an avalanche literally started, which covered Adam Hus. And most of the teammates just watched.

In the fifth minute, Nathan MacKinnon pushed through the defender, the Slovak goalkeeper did not evaluate the situation the best, he reached for the puck with a hockey stick, the clever striker pushed the puck through the concrete.

A few minutes later, a blue shot came from Húska, Húska saw nothing and it was 2: 3. In the middle of the duel, the defense had Alex Newhook shot in a power play and Colorado led by two goals.

At the end of the second act, Logan O’Connor’s moments arrived, and he succeeded twice in 22 seconds. At first, he turned the defender into a statistician and hung up, then turned into a separate escape. After 40 minutes, the score was 2: 6 and the question hung in the air as Húska caught the duel.

“I didn’t want to put Georgiev untapped there when we already lost two goalkeepers. I told the boy it was a team matter, let him go and fight, “ coach Gerard Gallant said.

In the last act, the Avalanches have only scored once with a goal that demonstrated the helplessness of the Rangers’ defenses. Mikko Rantanen’s puck ran alone in front of Hus.

“He was great in the first period. He faced 19 shots in it and had several key interventions. We lost as a team today, ” did not blame the loss of coach Gallant by New York Post and Adam Husk.

“He had some good interventions. We left him in a mess several times, we didn’t help him and we gave them a chance. In any case, he is a good goalkeeper and has a bright future ahead of him. He did well, ” added defender Jacob Trouba.

Adam Húska has had a failed premiere, but he will probably have a chance. Šestorkin is still injured, he hasn’t even been on the ice yet, so his return is a matter of weeks and if the coach does not want to put an extreme strain on Georgiev, he will give the Slovak goalkeeper a second chance.