Mobile goaltenders can drive fans and coaches absolutely nuts. They're athletic enough to make the saves that wow you, but if they get too keen on playing the puck, it can end up in the back of your net before you know it. A win would put them into a tie for fourth place, while a loss could drop them as low as eighth.
A bit less than halfway through the first period, Stalock ranged to his right to play a loose puck. Any UMD fan will tell you he is prone to doing this, but in this case, it almost burned the Bulldogs in a big way. Stalock ran into Wisconsin forward Andy Bohmbach and fell to the ice.
The puck, meanwhile, found its way to Badger Tom Gorowsky, who was standing between the faceoff circles right in front of the net. Somehow, Gorowsky missed.
I'm not exactly sure how. Why nightmares? Because a third-period goal was enough to lift UMD to a win, thanks to 33 saves from Stalock and a critical miss from Gorowsky. Stalock doesn't make a habit out of living on the edge like that. Instead, he makes a habit out of staying smart with the puck, being one of college hockey's best athletes, and finding ways to keep the puck out of the net.
Whenever the Sharks decide to bring Stalock into their organization, they'll be taking in one of the truly unique talents in hockey. He's not the fundamentally-sound type. Instead, he's such a good athlete that he gets to pucks most goalies couldn't dream of stopping. It's one thing to use your stick to stop a dump-in behind the net. It's another to be unafraid to skate to the corner to run down a loose puck and try to start a breakout.
